The Adventures of the Dayton Girls
by Atlas Arrow
Summary: AU. As Claire grows up, she and her friend Vi discover things about thier lives and worlds that ultimately lead them into the dangerous realm of superheroes and vigilantes. Eventually some Kraken/Vanya and Rumor/Space
1. Chapter 1

September 1, 1974

Claire looked across the playground. A few kids were playing jump rope, and some others had organized a game of tag under the watchful eye of Mrs. Preston. Off in the corner she saw some others start drawing a rather sloppy hopscotch course. Nervously she snuggled deeper into her jacket.

Fall had come early to the City, bringing its' biting chill with her. As her mother had said, no one ever did anything by halves in the City. That might account for the fact that the ground was completely covered with leaves. They held on to moisture very well, so the ground was basically soggy mulch. Claire shivered just thinking about it and drew her feet onto the bench she was sitting on.

She twitched her nose, moving the glasses over the bridge of her freckled nose. Claire hated her glasses, but her father said they weren't about to spend an arm and a leg for contacts. Whatever that meant. She'd then appealed to her mother, but she'd said they'd get them when she was older. This didn't comfort Claire, as she wanted them now.

Off in the distance she heard a kid yell. Someone had gotten tagged. Claire looked down at the ground. She didn't much like the games at recess. It wasn't that she wasn't athletic. In fact she was quite agile. She frowned. The meaning of 'agile' wasn't exactly clear to her, just like her father's phrase. However, her P.E teacher had said that when her mother had come in for a conference.

In short the games didn't appeal to her. Neither did school as a whole come to think about it. At six years old, she was sure that she hated nothing half as much as she hated school. It wasn't the lessons, nor was it being away from home. Well, being away from home had something to do with it. She wasn't about to lie about that.

Recently she had gotten a fever and had to stay home for four days. Well, so what if she'd only actually been sick for three of them? She wasn't a bad liar, and she figured a fourth day couldn't hurt. In any case, the days off had been very pleasant. No, not pleasant. They had been downright **fun**.

Her father had been working, so that meant her mother had paid special attention to her. She liked it when it was just the two of them. She told her such wonderful stories. Some of them were about princesses and monsters, but her favorites were about her uncle on the moon. It was completely fascinating and she bet that the other kids didn't have an uncle on the moon.

So yes, she preferred being home to being at school. School took away the time that she was given to have fun at home. It was like it was stealing from her. Claire scuffed the ground with the tip of her shoe. Yeah, that was one reason she hated school. Yet, there were so many more immediate reasons to hate the place. To start with there was-

THWACK! Claire shuddered and winced as she felt the wet leaves hit her shoulder.

"Hey four-eyes!" a voice yelled.

She looked up, but she didn't need to. She already knew who it was.

"Not talking to us now?" May asked as she skipped over with the rest of her friends, "Think you're too good for us?"

Claire hunched deeper into her coat. Quickly she cast a side look across the playground. Mrs. Preston was on the other side of the playground, still looking at the tag game. Of all the times for the teachers to be off supervising a stupid game! Why weren't they there when she needed them?

Her eyes scanned the rest of the playground, but there were only other kids on it. They wouldn't deter May though. All of the ones near her were deliberately looking away. They had grasped the idea of playground politics, unlike her.

"She's not talking to us," Kayla, one of May's friends, said in mock sadness.

The rest of the girls started giggling. They giggled a lot, mostly whenever May said something but occasionally whenever Kayla spoke. Apparently her father owned their fathers' businesses so they hung out a lot. Why they had decided to target her she had no idea. However, she had a feeling it was because she was quiet and tended to be anti-social. The glasses and the freckles couldn't help either.

May made a face at her. All of the teachers had told them they should report it if they were being bullied. That was easy for them to say from their high horse. So say she did tell. May and the rest would deny it, and then she'd get punished by the teachers for lying. Then, when she went to the playground, she'd just get bullied even more. It was a lose-lose situation.

"Freckle-face is deaf now?" May pouted, "And I spent all those days figuring out the best things to call her too! How unfair is this!"

Claire straightened inside of her coat a little.

"You're a jerk," she said firmly.

A couple of the girl's eyes widened. May's eyes, however, narrowed.

"You got a potty mouth on you," she said.

Claire knew it was a stupid move, but she stuck out her tongue. Her face contorting May shoved Claire off the bench and into the leaves. The slimy tree scraps slipped down her jacket, chilling her. She shivered miserably as the other girls started to giggle again.

"That'll help wash it out," May said, satisfied.

She leaned down.

"But just in case you don't get the message," she grinned.

In one swift movement she snatched the glasses off Claire's face. The world started to blur, and she could just make out their form in May's hand.

"Give them back!" Claire yelled as she scrambled to her feet.

May smiled, holding the glasses just about Claire's reach. She'd always been taller than her. As Claire struggled to reach them May thrust out her other arm and pushed Claire back onto the ground. Once again the cold leaves slipped down her neck. She fought back tears as she looked up at May's shadowy smirking face.

The smirk disappeared suddenly as a clump flew from behind Claire, hitting May in the face. She stumbled backwards, dropping Claire's glasses. Hardly thinking she darted out and grabbed them as several more clusters of leaves followed the first one. The rest of the girls ran away screaming. She watched them, blinking.

"Yeah, you'd better run!" a voice shouted.

Now even more surprised Claire fumbled to wipe the mud out of her glasses. There were a few footsteps in the background.

"You okay?" a voice said.

She looked up, putting her glasses back on for better focus. There was a girl her age wearing a weathered grey coat covered in dirt with grass and leaves sticking to it. Her hair, however, was quite clean and looked like pale corn husks. Currently brown eyes were quickly looking over Claire. She frowned.

"You okay?" she repeated.

"Um, yeah," Claire lied as she stumbled to her feet.

The other girl helped her up. Once she figured out that Claire could stand, the girl looked after May. She continued to stare for a minute before sticking out her tongue. Then she turned back to Claire.

"Who's the stuck-up weirdo?" she asked.

Claire shook her head disbelievingly.

"Are you new or something?"

"Yeah," the girl said proudly, "Name's Vi. Just moved here two weeks ago."

"Vi?" asked Claire tentatively.

"My real name's too long," she said, "So Mom said I can use Vi until I grow into it. So, who is she?"

"May," replied Claire, "And she's not going to be happy about the leaves. She's kind of a…neat freak."

"What's that?" frowned Vi.

Claire thought for a minute.

"Someone who likes to keep clean, I think," she answered.

"Too bad for her. I think there was a leech in there somewhere. And don't worry about me. I can take her," snorted Vi, "Just look at the way she ran. Sorry I didn't start earlier."

"No," she said, "Uh, thanks."

"No problem," she said, grinning.

Vi cocked her head.

"Either your tag's really weird looking, or you've got leaves in your coat," she said.

"I know," shivered Claire.

Vi grinned again.

"Let's go inside then."


	2. Chapter 2

June 28, 1976

"Come on!" Vi yelled, "I've got something to show you!"

Claire panted heavily as she followed Vi's high paced run. How could anyone run like that? It just didn't make sense.

"So you keep saying. But let's just go home. We're probably going to get in trouble," Claire said as she looked at the fence nervously.

Vi finally stopped as she reached a large chain link fence. She turned and flipped her waist-length blonde hair.

"What makes you say that?"

Raising her eyebrow Claire replied;

"Probably all the 'NO TRESPASSING' signs."

Indeed, there were quite a few of them. Some of them even listed the consequences involved in ignoring them. They were quite extensive.

"They put those up everywhere interesting," said Vi dismissively.

"Not in my neighborhood," Claire disagreed.

"They do in Dayton county," Vi argued, "Come on. They don't mean anything."

"They do," said Claire stoutly, "And it's getting late. I think I should be getting home-"

"Come on!" begged Vi, "I spent half an hour cutting a way in here yesterday!"

Sighing Claire shook her head.

"I'm grounded Vi. Mom'll get angry if I'm not back soon."

"You're grounded?" frowned Vi.

The inquisitive tone in Vi's voice was hard to miss. However, Claire simply pushed up her glasses.

"Yeah, so I'll get in really big trouble if I don't get home soon," she said.

"So?" Vi asked, "Come on, it'll take five minutes."

Claire thought for a minute. If it was just a few minutes…

"Five minutes?" she asked.

Vi grinned. All of Vi's grins always made Claire feel like she was plotting something. She certainly did have the-cat-that-ate-the-canary look about her.

"Five minutes," she agreed.

Then she spun on her heel and hurried through a small gap in the chain link fence. Sighing Claire followed her and stopped abruptly as her coat got caught. Angrily she tugged on it. It was such a bother. She wished she wasn't so cold all of the time. Then she wouldn't have to bother with the stupid coat.

After a few seconds of tugging she got loose and pushed through. Her shoe crunched on the cracked concrete. Trash littered the whole area, moving slightly in the breeze. The place looked like it hadn't been used in a very long time.

"You coming?" Vi yelled.

Tearing her eyes off the neglected pavement Claire hurried to catch up. It wasn't an easy task. She'd once seen Vi outrun a thirteen-year old. When they were old enough to be allowed on teams she was sure that track would beg her to join. Generally Vi slowed down when she was going somewhere with Claire, mindful of her friend's slower speed. Sometimes though, like today, she forgot.

When she finally did draw near Vi the girl was standing proudly in front of a bush.

"Ready for this?" she asked her excitedly.

"Yeah," replied Claire, laughing.

With a flourish Vi pulled the bush back to reveal…a water park. It was an old one, and as neglected as the concrete. The water had been drained from all of the pools. Near her a rusty old sign squeaked. Some of the letters were missing, but she could make out; Dayton Water Adventure Park.

It wasn't exactly a perfect picture. Yet…all of the slides were still there. All of the colors were, faded, but still quite vivid. There was even a play area and lounge chairs scattered about. Claire gaped.

"I told you it was amazing!" exclaimed Vi, "Now, let me show 'ya what it looks like from the top!"

Without another word Vi took off towards the nearest slide.

"Not so fast!" Claire shouted after her, going after her as fast as she could.

Vi gestured to her minutes before she started up the steps to the biggest slide. Knowing she was getting more exercise now then in a week of P.E, Claire followed her. The stairs seemed to go up forever and her feet felt like they were about to fall off. They really shouldn't make staircases that big.

Huffing and puffing Claire reached the top. Vi was sitting down and gesturing to her. Angrily Claire flopped down.

"That was exhausting!"

"It's a good view," Vi said, hurt.

"Hmph," said Claire.

She hoped that the noise indicated how angry she was and not how beautiful she thought the sight actually was. After a few minutes of silence Vi asked tentatively;

"Still mad at me?"

Claire rolled her eyes.

"Don't be silly."

Vi grinned.

"Can I ask how you got grounded then?"

Once more Claire rolled her eyes.

"How come you have to know everything?"

"Because I don't already know it," shrugged Vi, "I'm nosy. Are you gonna tell me or not?"

For a minute Claire thought it over. She hadn't kept anything from her best friend. She hadn't even withheld the fact that her mother had once been part of the Umbrella Academy. Alright, so maybe she had just done that to impress her friend. It had certainly worked. She hadn't known it at the time, but Vi had posters of the Academy in her room. She even kept up with their latest exploits.

Vi had been the one to tell her that the group had almost broken-up after her mother had left. Claire had been surprised by this. Her mother hadn't told her that. Come to think of it, her mother hadn't actually been the one to tell her about the Academy. Her father had mentioned it to her instead.

Anyways, Vi said that another member had died and things had looked bleak. Claire had asked her how the member had died, and Vi had said it was some sort of car accident. There were also rumors that another member, the Kraken, had gone missing several years ago. Certainly no one saw him anymore. This time Vi hadn't really known why. She did, however, manage to tell her that three members had remained in the end. That was the Academy everyone knew about, the Séance, Spaceboy, and the Horror.

So she was sure that she could tell her friend about this. Besides, it wasn't like it was earth-shattering or anything.

"I got in trouble with my mom," she said at last.

"Ooooooooooooh," laughed Vi, "Didja have an extra candy bar when you weren't supposed to? Didja not clean your room?"

"No," frowned Claire, "I'm not actually sure what I did."

Vi leaned forward. It was obvious that Claire had her complete and undivided attention.

"See," she explained, "It was late, and I was going downstairs to get some water. But Mom and Dad were already in the kitchen talking, I'm not sure what about. Then Dad said something a little louder and Mom said something louder too. Then I walked in."

She frowned again, trying to remember the details. The way they'd looked at her when she'd come in. It was like the last thing they needed was to have her there.

"So…" said Vi slowly, "You got into trouble for going into the kitchen?"

"I don't know," Claire said, "I've been into the kitchen a lot before but I've never gotten in trouble. But, they kinda looked at me and then told me to go to bed. I wanted to know what they were talking about-"

"Probably grown-up things," Vi said.

"Probably," shrugged Claire, "But I wanted to know so I asked again and again. Then my mom told me I was grounded and I had to go to bed right away."

Vi cocked her head.

"That sounds weird."

"You're telling me," she said.

"Maybe they were talking about your birthday and got angry when you came in," suggested Vi.

"Nah," she said, "I guess it was because of how late I was up."

"I guess," shrugged Vi.

Claire looked at her watch.

"Speaking of late-" she started.

"Alright, alright," said Vi, getting up, "We'll go back now…if you can keep up."

Claire groaned.


	3. Chapter 3

December 22, 1978

"So, what're you doing for Christmas?" asked Vi.

Claire blew on her hands for all the good it would do. The two of them were in Dayton Water Park, which had more or less become their official hangout. In the summer they sat on the slides and had ice cream. In the winter they huddled on the old lounge chairs around the pool with blankets and hot chocolate purchased from the vendor down the street. It was at times like these that she wished they could just hang out at the other's house after school. At least it would be warm there.

In some parts of the City there was over a foot of snow. In the past month they'd had four days off because of the extreme amount of snow. Now there was much less. The snowplows had gotten most of it, but there was still far too much for her comfort. Claire got cold incredibly easy and being outdoors really didn't help.

Even with the day's off the month had seemed to crawl at a snail's pace. At long last the last day of school before Christmas break had come and gone. Now there was nothing else to do but look forward to the presents and evergreen. Speaking of which, she let her eyes wander over to her back-pack.

"The usual," shrugged Claire, "Church, presents, you know. And you?"

"About the same thing," Vi said, "Mom's taking me out to see the lights at the big department store tonight."

"You mean Dole's or Larcy's?" asked Claire.

"Larcy's."

"That's real pretty," said Claire, "I went there last week. You need to take a look at the toy department. There's so much stuff there. They've got the new Perfect Stacy doll and everything."

Vi shrugged.

"I wasn't really thinking about that," she said, "I was kinda hoping that I'd see Santa there."

There was a slight pause.

"Santa's not real," Claire said knowledgably.

"He is so."

"Is not. The 'Santa' you see at the mall's actually just a paid employee. He's not even Santa's helper."

"Yes he is."

"No he isn't," said Claire, "Think about it. Around the world in one night, reindeer, elves making toys, going down chimnies when there's no chimney. He doesn't make sense when you think about it."

"Yes he does."

"No he doesn't."

"What makes you so sure?" Vi asked defiantly.

Claire shook her head. She couldn't believe that at eleven years old no one had told Vi that Santa Claus wasn't real.

"I caught my dad putting all my 'Santa' presents under the tree last Christmas," she explained, "Then he went over, ate the cookies and drank the milk. That's all it is, just a bit of smoke 'n mirrors on the part of our dad."

"That doesn't mean Santa's not real," Vi argued.

"Yes it does," Claire said firmly, "I asked Santa for diamond earrings last year, and then I saw him put these under the tree."

To punctuate her sentence she tugged on her ears, where the earrings sparkled in the sunlight.

"Big whoop."

"Come on Vi. It's just your dad putting stuff under the tree."

"No it isn't."

"What makes you so sure?" said Claire.

Vi looked at the ground and mumbled something.

"Huh?" asked Claire.

Glaring at her Vi mumbled it again.

"I can't hear you," said Claire.

"I don't have one," she said, her teeth clenched.

"One what?" asked Claire.

"One dad," snapped Vi.

Claire drew back, startled.

"You never…" stammered Claire, "…you never told me you didn't-"

"Well, you never asked now did you?" Vi snarled, throwing her legs onto the lounge chair so she was on it entirely.

There was a long pause. She couldn't believe it. She'd known Vi for years and she'd never thought to ask…but then again, it wasn't something you asked about. Still, she couldn't believe that it had never come up, that she'd never figured it out. Vi had talked constantly about her mom, but she'd never uttered one word about her dad.

"I'm sorry," she said.

Vi looked over at her before snorting.

"I am," Claire said.

"Yeah?" asked Vi, still looking a little irritated, "Well, it doesn't really matter. He died before I was born."

"Oh," said Claire, again feeling like this was something she should've known.

"Mom doesn't even have any pictures," she said, "So it's not like I know what he looked like or anything. He's too abstract to matter."

Yet, from the way Vi had snapped at her earlier, Claire surmised that this wasn't entirely true. Still, she felt it was better to just let the subject drop. She reached over to her backpack.

"I…uh…I got you something."

Vi blinked.

"You shouldn't have," she said.

"I wanted to," Claire said as she rummaged around.

"No," said Vi, "You shouldn't have. I didn't get you anything…"

"That's perfect!" exclaimed Claire as she took a small package out of her backpack.

"Perfect?" asked Vi, puzzled, "How's that perfect?"

"Open it and see," smiled Claire mysteriously as she held out the present.

Still looking doubtful Vi carefully unwrapped the package. This was difficult, since Claire had yet to figure out that tape should be used sparingly when wrapping things. Finally she got it open. She stared at it. For inside the wrapping paper, nestled in tissue, was a necklace. It had a small silver ring around it.

Vi looked at Claire, then looked back at the necklace. She picked it up with one mittened hand. Yet, as soon as she touched it, it fell apart.

"I broke it!" Vi said, looking heartbrokenly at the chain and ring parts.

Claire laughed.

"No you didn't," she said, "It's supposed to do that."

"It's supposed to break?" Vi said, raising an eyebrow.

"No," Claire said, still laughing as she reached over to it, "It's supposed to come apart. It's a friendship necklace. See-"

Gently she pulled apart the two chains. Each chain had parts of the ring on it.

"When you put them together you get one," she explained, "I get one part and you get the other. Then when you put them together, it's one. See?"

"So…" Vi said, "It's like a double present?"

"Yep," said Claire, handing Vi her half.

For a minute Vi let it twirl around in her hand. Then, clumsily because of all her hair, she snapped it on. Once she was finished she looked up and grinned at Claire.

"Perfect."


	4. Chapter 4

October 12, 1979

"Blech," Claire said as she looked at her science homework, "I can't believe we actually have to do this."

Vi nodded in agreement as she swept the classroom. Claire chewed on the end of her pencil as she tried to figure out what the answer to number 4 was.

"I mean, why in the world would I need to know what's under the Earth's crust?" she continued.

"In case it bubbles up and kills you," Vi answered.

For a moment there was silence.

"In case what bubbles up?" asked Claire, confused.

"The magma inside the Earth," she answered.

"Don't be ridiculous," Claire said, pushing up her glasses, "That doesn't make any sense at all."

"Where do you think volcanoes come from?" Vi asked.

She paused, still chewing on her pencil.

"Well," said Claire, "If you put it that way then I guess you have a point. Still…that can't be right."

"It is," said Vi, "I read it in a book."

Claire shook her head.

"I can't believe I'm getting better grades than you," Claire mumbled, "**That's **what doesn't make any sense."

"It's probably my cooperative attitude," grinned Vi as she twirled around with the broom.

Claire grinned back. Earlier that day Vi had crept into the classroom before school. She had then proceeded to hide the teacher's cell phone in a lunchbox from the lost and found, and then hidden that deep at the bottom of the box. Vi had never particularly liked Mrs. Jamison, probably because Mrs. Jamison had insisted on calling Vi her full name, Vivienne, instead of her nickname.

When the cell phone had rung the first time, Mrs. Jamison had gotten irritated because she couldn't find it. After the sixth time though, she had gone nuts trying to find it. They'd had to call in the Principal to get her to calm down. They'd also had to call in a few other teachers to calm the class down. All in all it had been incredibly funny.

However, the Principal hadn't found it funny. To make matters worse, somehow May had found out that Vi had done it. Relations hadn't improved between the girls over the years, and May had snitched. Now Vi had gotten a detention cleaning the room after school. She wasn't idle though. Even now she was plotting her revenge. So far the plan she had come up with included whipped cream and peanut butter. Claire couldn't wait to see what it included next.

As for her, Claire had had to make-up a quiz. She'd been faking sick that day to stay home, but she figured she wouldn't do it anymore. For one thing her mother was more irritable now and didn't tell her stories. So there wouldn't be any more make-up tests unless she was puking out her guts. So she had called her Mom and stayed after school, doing it that day to keep Vi company.

It had been a good plan. The detention teacher had put her near the door though. Apparently Mrs. Jamison had told her they were good friends. Under the teacher's supervision he'd made them be quieter than a racist at an Equal Rights rally. Still, she was there and that was what counted. And now that Mr. Tam had gone out to get a cup of coffee, she could talk as freely as she wanted to with Vi.

However, she had the feeling that she should've found some excuse other then the make-up quiz. For one she had absolutely no idea how to answer half these questions. Well, so now she had the answer to question number 4. There were still other questions to go though. Claire was seriously considering keeping them blank when the lights went out.

She blinked in the darkness.

"Vi?" she called out.

"I'm here," Vi answered, "I can't see a freaking thing though. Looks like the power's out or something like that."

"I'm near the light switch," Claire said, getting up and feeling tentatively along the wall for the switches.

"Nah," Vi said, "A fuse blew. That's the only thing that would've done that. Does it all the time at my place."

Finally Claire found the light switch and flipped it. The lights flickered on.

"You were saying?" Claire asked.

Vi frowned. She dropped the broom and walked over to where Claire was.

"Let me see that switch," she said.

Shrugging Claire took her hand off it. The lights went off.

"Okay," said Vi, "I'll just turn it back on."

"I didn't turn it off," Claire argued.

"You must've," said Vi.

There was a small click and then a pause.

"Ummm…the light switch is on, but there's no light. I guess the fuse blew again."

"I don't think the fuse is blown."

"Well-"

Claire touched the switch again and the lights came on. Vi cocked her head at her. Still looking puzzled she took Claire's hand off the switch. The lights went off. She put Claire's hand back on the switch. The lights went back on. They did this for a few minutes.

"Wow," Vi said, "You got powers."

"No I don't," said Claire.

"How do you explain the light switch?" said Vi as she examined Claire's hand, "'Cause that was seriously cool."

"Coincidence."

"One heck of a coincidence," smirked Vi, "Has this happened before?"

"Light switches? Sometimes…" said Claire nervously.

"Awesome," Vi said, "You're like, a superhero or something."

"I don't have any powers!" Claire snapped.

As soon as the words left her mouth Vi went rigid. Her blonde hair stood up and electric sparks crackled over her. She let out a slight hissing noise between her teeth. Claire stared at her in horror.

"Oooooooooooooooooooow!" Vi said.

"I'm sorry!" Claire said.

She jerked her hand away. The sparks stopped and Vi's hair went down. Vi blinked at her.

"That was…painful," she said.

"I didn't mean to!" wailed Claire.

"It's okay," Vi said, blinking again, "But…when you get angry…you can shock people?"

"I…I guess. I've never done it before"

"We have **got **to tell your Mom about this."

"I…I don't think so…"

"She'd think it's cool!"

"No!"

Vi looked at her.

"Why not?"

"She…she'd get weird about it," Claire stammered, "I'll figure out how to you know…control it and keep it hidden. Don't tell anyone, please?"

"Of course not," said Vi, "If that's what you want."

"Trust me," Claire shuddered, "It is."


	5. Chapter 5

March 3, 1981

"You're not serious about this, are you?" asked Claire as she helped Vi push a large covered object to the top of one of Dayton's hills.

"I'm deadly serious," she said, "I know how to do this. My mom used to work at a garage…which is how she got it. It's an interesting story actually."

As Vi talked her hold on the object loosened. It started to roll away down the hill and Claire yipped as it narrowly missed her foot. Quickly Vi reasserted her grip in time to keep it in position.

"Sorry!"

"This thing's gonna roll me over!" Claire wailed.

It had rained especially hard the night before. That had made the ground extremely muddy. This, in turn, made it difficult to balance on. Balance was already difficult to maintain when you were pushing a large object up a hill with your backpack weighing you down. However, combined with the other three difficulties it was next to impossible.

They'd had enough trouble getting there in the first place. Luckily, and unluckily, Vi lived rather close to the water park. The unluckily part was because Dayton County was an incredibly scary place. She'd seen at least four people she'd been convinced were drug dealers and she could've sworn she'd heard someone getting beaten in an alley.

She knew that, statistically, Dayton County had the more criminal activities then the other four counties combined. However, the police didn't do much. Even though they had done some work that was better than what they'd done when her mother was growing up, they were just turning towards Dayton County now. The idea that her friend lived in such a dangerous place creeped her out to no end.

Anyway, she still didn't know just what was under the tarp. Vi had told her it was a surprise and had her take the covered contraption out. Her mother hadn't been home, and Claire suspected they wouldn't be able to get away with it if she had been.

"Stop being such a worrywart," Vi said, "We're nearly at the top now."

"You said that five minutes ago."

"Well, I mean it now. I know all these hills. I come up here sometimes when I can't sleep. It's really relaxing."

Fortunately for Claire, she did actually mean it. With a final push they got it onto flat ground. As soon as the elevation leveled out Vi reached under the tarp and pushed out the kickstand.

"Wanna hear the story that goes?' she said.

"Why not?" sighed Claire as she flopped down onto the grass, making sure it wasn't concealing mud beforehand.

Following her example Vi took a seat. She fingered her friendship necklace as she spoke.

"I was about…four at the time," she said, "We were living in Chicago then and mom got a job working at a garage. She was always pretty good at putting things together, taking them apart, that kind of thing. So she was pretty good at fixing mechanical stuff, once she learned the basics. Apparently dad taught her some things before he got drafted for Vietnam. She got better than him at it after awhile."

"Anyway, one time there was this promotion up for grabs. She'd been there longer than anyone else, but her boss didn't like her because she was a girl. So he was gonna give it to someone else."

"That's not fair," Claire said, sitting up.

"Tell me about it," Vi said, "So she said that she knew more about machines than the other guy, and the manager figured he'd give her a way to prove it so she'd get off his back. So he led her out to the back where there'd been this one bike rusting forever. He said if she could fix it up before the end of the month she'd get the promotion."

"That's still not fair," Claire said stoutly.

"Yeah, the guy sounds like a jerk," Vi said, "Mom figured she couldn't do it, but we were kinda tight for money then and she needed the promotion."

Claire didn't say anything. She knew that money was still pretty tight at Vi's house. At first she'd just inferred it from her secondhand shirts and worn out jeans. Even her oversized leather jacket was beaten up and old. Her house, however, confirmed it. Yet, she never said anything about it. It wasn't the kind of thing you talked about.

"So she took it home for two weeks," Vi continued, "I can still kinda remember her bent over it, hammering on it with her wrenches and stuff. I mean, she spent a lot of time working on it. She got a lot of cuts and stuff. I mean, she was just about covered with band-aids. Then the time was up and she took it in."

"And?" asked Claire.

Vi got up and pulled the tarp off the object. A motorcycle, slightly tarnished with age, was revealed. The Harley Davidson logo gleamed in the light.

"Voila," she said, "A rather good job I think."

"Wow," said Claire.

"The boss was totally convinced she'd done some sort of trick, right?" said Vi.

"Jerk."

"Sexist too. So he told her to start it up. He rode it around the parking lot, and the engine didn't make a sound."

As she said the last sentence Vi gave her a sly look.

"Of course, that was probably because she put a bucketful of sawdust in the engine. But still."

Slinging down her backpack Vi pulled out a helmet.

"Anyway, she got the promotion and got to keep the bike too. She kinda told me how to ride it, although she doesn't actually ride for some reason."

"Then how's she know how to?" asked Claire.

"Dunno," said Vi as she strapped the helmet on, "Maybe she's psychic or something."

Reaching into her backpack she pulled out another helmet. This one she handed to Claire.

"How many times have you done this?" asked Claire as she looked at the helmet uncertainly.

"Ridden? Tons of times."

"How long?"

"About five seconds."

"That's comforting."

"Hey!" Vi said indignantly, "I'm just short, alright? That's all it is."

"This is probably a really stupid thing to do," Claire said.

"Most likely. Are you coming?"

"Oh…why not?" Claire shrugged.

Strapping the helmet on and carefully tucking her glasses in her pocket she got on behind Vi. Vi grinned once before turning the keys in the ignition.

"Hold on to your horses!" she called.

The next few minutes were the scariest and funnest of Claire's life. The hill was bumpy, and from Vi's panicked expression she seemed to have lost control over the bike after four seconds. Claire was jolted and shake. However, it was like a big wild rollercoaster. She actually found herself laughing aloud at one point.

When the bike leveled out there was a sharp turn that made her stomach lurch unpleasantly. It was like all of her organs had suddenly shifted to the right about a foot. All of the blood rushed to her head and she started seeing stars. It was almost a relief when she was finally thrown off the bike into the mud.

There was one more lurch of her stomach, and then it was over. As she waded into a sitting position she felt around desperately for her glasses. She took them out of her pocket, thankfully unbroken.

"Are you alright?" Vi said.

Claire looked up dully. Somehow or another Vi had managed to get the bike under control long enough to turn it off. She was completely clean.

"Claire?" asked Vi worriedly, "Speak to me, come on!"

"You told me to hold on to my horses," Claire said vaguely.

"Huh?" Vi asked.

"Before the ride," she said, "You told me to hold on to my horses. You should've told me to hold on to my lunch."

Vi looked over to Claire's right, where she had thrown up.

"I'll uh…I'll be sure to remember that."


	6. Chapter 6

November 27, 1984

Tiredly Claire flipped a page in a book. She blinked back the urge to fall asleep as she did so. Glancing at her watch she saw that she'd been there for over an hour, just looking over books. As of yet she had found absolutely nothing on what she wanted to. Sighing deeply she turned her eyes back down at the page.

A loud bang made her jump in her seat. Looking up she saw Vi leaning over a large pile of books. She also saw a librarian looking rather disapprovingly at them before turning away. Absentmindedly Vi raised her index finger. Claire rolled her eyes.

"These are the only other books they have on it," Vi said, lowering her finger,"Can't believe this fucking place calls itself a library with so few books on superheroes. It's like they don't like them."

"Guess it's because they don't answer to the world," shrugged Claire.

"Hey," said Vi, "The world's what we make it, and they're making it a better place."

"Yeah," Claire said, "But Dayton County's still the same old-"

"Shithole?" suggested Vi, "Yeah, I know. They'll get to it, I'm sure."

Claire gave a small nod, although she wasn't entirely convinced.

"Anyway, any luck with yours?" she asked.

"Nah," she said before leaning in and saying in a conspiratory voice, "Unless you count my already extensive knowledge on things the public aren't supposed to know about them."

"Like?" Claire asked blandly.

"They say Hargreeves ran experiments on them when they slept," she said in a low voice, "Then they say there was a seventh child who ran away before The Day The Eiffel Tower Went Berserk. There's also the idea going around that the Kraken didn't disappear…he died in a mission that went wrong."

"Who says all this?" asked Claire, her face contorting.

Vi made a vague gesture with her hand.

"You know, people."

"It's all ridiculous," she said.

"I know," Vi replied, "The idea that the Kraken died is stupid. I mean, that guy was too badass to die. I think the rumor he joined the police force incognito is much more believable."

Rolling her eyes Claire said;

"They're urban legends Vi, that's all."

Vi shrugged.

"So, did you have any luck?"

"Not at all," sighed Claire, "They don't have much on why the Umbrella Academy broke up. Mostly it's just about their exploits and all the bad guys they put behind bars. You're right, it's like they don't want to talk about it."

She reached for a book as Vi flopped down in the chair opposite her.

"If you don't mind me asking," she said, "Why're you looking for this shit in the first place? Can't you just ask your mom about it?"

"No," Claire said.

"Why not?"

"She…she won't talk to me about it."

"Did she say why?"

"No."

"Why not?" frowned Vi.

Claire hesitated. Vi's mother talked to her a lot more than her mother did to her. Sometimes it made Claire jealous. However, it was because of this she knew that it probably wasn't going to be the easiest for her to understand the lack of communication between mother and daughter.

"Because I never asked her about it," she said at last.

"Then how do you know?" Vi asked.

She shut her eyes. The day before, she'd gone up into the attic to see if she could find an old book. After several minutes of searching she had all but given up. Just when she was turning back to the stairs her foot bumped into a chest. She'd stubbed her toe on it and spent a rather painful few minutes hopping around.

When she finally looked at the chest she noticed it had the initials AH on it. They had confused her for awhile, until she'd realized that those were her mother's initials before she got married. Curious she'd opened it and looked inside. At first there wasn't much to see, just some clothes from the 60's and stuff. Once she'd dug a little deeper though, she'd found IT.

IT was purple and red with an umbrella badge in the corner of it. From the texture of IT she thought that maybe IT was made of rubber or a similar material. On top of IT she'd found a black mask that seemed to go with IT. Claire had gasped as she realized IT was her mother's superhero costume.

She'd been fascinated and looked at every single detail. Then she'd set it aside and gone looking for more. Claire had been disappointed. There were just a few newspaper clippings talking about moon missions and such things. At the very bottom of the trunk was a framed photo. Standing in it were six figures in front of a very large house.

Claire blinked. She'd only ever seen half these people on the news. The others she'd never laid eyes on before. In the corner she saw her mother, standing in her costume. Next to her was a rather irritable looking man in a costume. She assumed he was the Kraken, the one who'd gone missing. In the background she could make out another figure, that of a woman. From what she'd been told, that must be Vanya, the one who'd died.

She hadn't made any other surmises, for at that moment her mother had come looking for her. As soon as she saw what she'd been doing she screeched for her to put it all back. Her mother's screeches had brought her father, who'd looked distastefully at the trunk. Claire could still remember their words.

"I thought you threw all that stupid junk away," he'd said, wrinkling his nose.

"It's none of your business," her mother had snapped, turning away from Claire to glare at him.

"Of course it's my business. It's my house."

"As you keep reminding me," her mother said as she crossed her arms.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like!" she'd yelled, "Sometimes I wish I'd never married you!"

"That was your choice! You're the one who got knocked-up, weren't you?!"

"That wasn't just **my **fault!"

"Well, if you didn't want the kid so bad, why didn't you just rumor yourself an abortion!?"

It was only after that remark that they'd realized Claire was still in the room. There had been one terrible moment when they were just staring at her. Then her mother had ordered her downstairs and glared at her like the fight was her fault. Claire opened her eyes and looked at Vi's expectant face.

"I just know," she said, "She won't tell me anything, and…I don't think she wanted me and I need to know about that. I'm fourteen now and that's old enough to know."

Forcefully she flipped open a book and scanned through it. She could feel Vi stare at her for a moment before she took down another book. A few minutes of speed reading had passed by when Vi said;

"Hey, will this help?"

Claire got up and moved to Vi's side of the table. Apparently Vi had picked out a book of newspaper clippings. There was one that said;

"VANYA HARGREEVES DIES IN CAR ACCIDENT."

She looked at the black and white picture attached to the article. It showed two cars that were completely wrecked. Looking over at the text she read the words.

_Details are sketchy, but it appears that Vanya Hargreeves (18), adopted daughter of famed entrepreneur Sir Reginald Hargreeves (?), was killed in a car accident outside her college in Los Angeles, California. The car of Richard Corey (29) made an illegal U-turn and slammed into her car at an intersection. Medics rushed to the scene and transported the victims to the Sacred Heart Hospital, but Vanya Hargreeves was pronounced dead on arrival._

The rest of the article was just about the impending trial. Chewing her tongue Claire said quietly;

"So that's how my aunt died. Are there any other articles?"

"I haven't looked," Vi said.

She turned the page. The headline was about some election or another. Vi flipped the page again. This one had a headline that said;

"COFFIN-SIDE BRAWL AT HARGREEVES MANOR."

There was a picture of the Kraken hitting Spaceboy with her mother shouting in the back. Both of them read the article quietly.

_At Vanya Hargreeves' (18) funeral reporters were shocked to find the Kraken (18) engaged in fight with Spaceboy (18). The nature of the disagreement is unknown, but the Kraken was reported to have shouted;_

"_I'm gonna kill that motherfucker!"_

_At this time the Rumor (18) stepped in between her brothers and separated them using her power. She is recorded saying;_

"_Both of you, don't you have any respect!? She'd dead!"_

_The Séance (18), who had been near, was heard to say;_

"_And she's being pretty damn quiet, I can tell 'ya that!"_

_The Kraken yelled something indistinguishable at him. At this point the siblings noticed the reporters and promptly threw them out of the grounds._

Tentatively Claire turned the page. This one said;

"THE KRAKEN…GONE?"

Feeling that was pretty self-explanatory she flipped through the pages until she came to one that said;

"THE RUMOR MARRIES PATRICK SMITH."

There was a picture of her mother and father in front of a minister. Her mother looked beautiful, as she always did, and there were flowers everywhere.

_The Rumor (18) tied the knot today with her longtime boyfriend, Patrick Smith (21). Whispers that she was quitting the team have been confirmed. She did, however, refuse to comment on the rumor that she was pregnant. People have also wondered how tasteful this is due to the death of her sister only a few months earlier-_

Claire shut her eyes. She didn't need to read anymore. Sliding into the seat next to Vi she let out a the breath she'd been mentally holding since she'd been in the attack. A few tears squeezed their way out of her eyes and Vi put her arm around her.

"I was right," she said, choking back the rest of her tears, "They only got married because of **me**. She didn'twant **me**."


	7. Chapter 7

June 30, 1985

Listlessly Claire rubbed her eyes. She knew that it was very late at night, or possibly it was just early in the morning. Tiredly she fumbled around on the nightstand for her glasses. Despite the promises made to her when she was five, she had yet to receive contacts. Oh well, at least her freckles were disappearing.

Deftly she put them on. Then she looked at the clock by her bed. It read 1:15 a.m. She groaned. For a minute she flopped back and lay in bed, trying to figure out why she'd woken up at such an ungodly hour. Claire was quite a heavy sleeper, so it couldn't have been anything slight. Then she heard the noises.

They weren't faint, but they weren't exactly loud either. Still, it must've been enough to wake her up. Claire got into her slippers and looked around for a bathrobe. She couldn't find a thing in the dark. She breathed in deeply and the lights came on. In the four years since she'd discovered her powers, she'd become quite good at using them.

However, even once the lights were on she couldn't find it. Finally she settled on putting on her jacket before she slipped out of her room. The hallway was dark too and she had to close her eyes for a few minutes before she could continue on. As she descended down the stairs she heard the voices clearly;

"You couldn't see this coming?!" she heard her father shout, "Really?!"

Claire knew she shouldn't be there. She knew she should go back upstairs and pretend she hadn't seen this. Yet, for some unfathomable reason, she kept going. When she got to the door to the living room, she heard her mother shout;

"Of course not you bastard! You're married to **me**! You've got a daughter! Life was pretty damn simple! And then what? I find out you've been fucking some whore!"

She froze as her father's face contorted with anger.

"Jessica isn't a whore!" he snapped, "She doesn't nag-"

"Oh, so that's how it's gonna be, huh?!" her mother said, turning around so that her back faced her husband.

"-she listens to me-"

"Then why don't you go over to hers for this pity party you're throwing?!" her mother shouted.

"-and she's normal, something you can never be!" he finished.

Her mother whipped around so she could face him.

"Yeah?" she said, "Well I heard a rumor you-"

Claire heard her father laugh, loud and cold.

"You're resorting to that now?" he said, "You know what, I was right! You can take the freak out of the circus but you can't take the circus out of the freak."

His hands balled into fists as he approached her.

"You probably used that stupid power of yours to get me to marry you!" he snarled, only feet away from her now, "And believe me, I'd have never married you if it wasn't for that goddamned kid! And do you know what? Not even that was worth it because she's turned out to be as stupid as you!"

A small breath escaped Claire's throat. At this slight noise her father turned towards her.

"What are you doing down here!?" he shouted, "Get back upstairs!"

Once more Claire knew she should've gone. She should've run upstairs, locked her door, thrown her blanket over her head, and prayed it would all be different in the morning. Yet, for some reason, she found herself glued to the spot.

"I said go upstairs!" he yelled.

His fist swung out and before Claire could do anything she felt a stinging pain in her eye and heard her glasses crack. Stumbling backwards she tripped and fell down.

"Why don't you do as you're told?!" he shouted.

Eyes wide from the pain she struggled into a sitting position. Looking up she saw her right eye's vision splintered into fifteen different angles of her father's angry face. Her insides churning with terror and confusion she turned and looked at her mother. She got fifteen different angles of a rather surprised face.

Then, for a split second, she felt like she wasn't actually there. The images seemed to simply meld into one large overview. It was as though it were all a dream and she was drifting over the scene like a kite that had had its strings cut. For that second she felt like she was an observer looking in on something completely unrelated to her. What she saw in that second shook her to her very soul.

She saw her father, glaring at her like a man mad with rage. Then she saw herself, small on the floor with a black-eye forming and cracked glasses. Claire saw her head tilt so that she was looking at her mother, with a slightly pleading expression. Lastly she saw her mother staring at her, not with sadness or concern, but surprise.

That was the worst, the expression on her face. This was probably because her mother could've done something. She could've intervened and been the mother that Claire still believed, in her heart of hearts, she was. She could've protected her daughter. She could've sent her father to the moon with only a handful of words.

Yet, she didn't. She just stood there staring at her daughter as though she'd never seen her before. This wasn't the mother Claire had known as a child, telling her stories about uncles on the moon and princesses in castles. It wasn't the mother she thought she had. This was a new mother, one who didn't give a damn.

As all of those realizations flooded into her, she scrambled to her feet. Then she ran towards the front door and wrenched it open. For a moment she thought she heard her mother yell;

"Claire!"

-then she was out into the cool evening, running as fast as her feet would carry her. Her slippers thudded on the pavement as the houses blurred past her. Thoughts whirled around in her head, inundating her with questions she didn't want to hear. Why was this happening? Why had her life become this? Where had the castles disappeared to? Where had the little girl who faked sick to stay home gone?

Somewhere along the way her slippers were lost in the street. She didn't stop for them, but just kept going. Her body screamed for air and Claire gave in only momentarily. She was surprised to see cars passing her on the street. There were people out for late night strolls, talking and laughing. Claire's whole life had just come crashing down on her and the world was just continuing like it didn't give a damn. As she resumed running, the thought hit her like a bolt of lightning; the world **didn't **give a damn. Just like her mother.

Finally her feet took her to the only other place she called home, the only place that turned out to actually be her home in the end; the water park. She crawled through the hole in the wire fence and cut her feet on the crumbling concrete. Claire ran through the lounge chairs, knocking one over, and up the flights of stairs to the top of the slide. At the top she looked over the view.

Then her exhausted frame finally took its toll and she collapsed, tired and in pain. Breathing deeply she clutched the side of the slide like it was a lifeline. Everything in her was completely numb. Her body was claiming its debts on her fatigue wracked frame, but she didn't care. It was all she could do to keep it together.

"Hey Claire!" she heard Vi's cheerful voice call to her as she climbed the steps.

Vi was always stronger and faster than anyone at school. That might've accounted for the speed with which she reached the top.

"Could 'ya not sleep? That's why I come up here. But your house is kinda far away so I figured you'd never-"

There was a pause as Vi took in Claire's bleeding feet and exhausted form.

"Claire," she said, her voice full of concern, "Are you alright?"

For the first time that night, Claire burst into tears.


	8. Chapter 8

June 30, 1985

Vi reached out her hand to Claire as she kneeled beside her. After much coaxing Vi had convinced her to tell her what had happened. Now she had finished, and with the finish came the return of tears.

"Everything's gone wrong," Claire said, "And I don't want to go back home because I don't know what I'd find there. I…I don't know what to do!"

Stretching her arms over her Vi hugged Claire.

"Why did this happen?" Claire said, her voice muffled.

Vi choked back her own tears for her friend's sadness.

"Dunno," she said, "Maybe your mother was just afraid, just shocked that her world was disappearing, like yours."

"Any other mother would think like that," replied Claire bitterly, "But your mom's not like my mom. My mom probably wanted an abortion. Probably wishes that's what she did."

"…I don't think she does."

"Why not?"

"You're still here, aren't you?"

"Very funny," snorted Claire, "I'm laughing so hard it hurts. Look Vi, my mom had me when she was still a teen. She didn't want to be a mother then. She didn't want to get married, and she didn't want **me**."

Vi paused for a minute.

"Claire, my mom wasn't even nineteen when she had me," Vi said softly, "My dad had died two days after she found out she was pregnant. There wasn't even time for him to know. Then mom had to leave home because her parents disapproved. She was on her own with virtually nothing."

Claire raised her tear-stained face to look at her.

"That shouldn't have happened. That's not fair."

"I know. But apparently it happens all the time. When she told me," Vi continued, "I asked her why she didn't have an abortion."

"**You** asked that?"

"Yeah," Vi said, "because that seems like the only logical option for her. Her parents would've been there for her then. Do you know what she said?"

Shaking her head Claire continued to look at her.

"She said I was a part of him," she said, "and I was a part of her. And she couldn't bear to destroy with either."

"I don't want to be a part of my father, and I sure as hell don't want anything to do with my mother," snapped Claire, "My father was never really there, but Mom…I always thought…but when I think about it…"

She took a ragged breath before continuing.

"She hasn't been a mother since I was eight. You don't know her Vi."

"I know you," said Vi simply, "So I must know at least a little something about her. And you know what? She must've done something right, since you've been the best friend I've ever had."

Swallowing hard Claire began crying again.

"It's okay," Vi said.

"It's not okay," sobbed Claire, "It's never okay. Don't you see that?"

"I don't know what you're-"

"I didn't deserve this!" she howled, "I didn't deserve a mother who would stand there when my father hits me. What have I done?"

"Claire-"

"You didn't deserve a father who died before you were born!" she said, "You hadn't done anything! Your mother didn't deserve to have to be a teenage mom with no money and a dead love. What had she done to deserve that?!"

"Nothing," Vi said, biting her lip and looking down, "But Claire, it's not about being fair. These things just happen sometimes."

"Well why isn't it fair?" Claire demanded as she got to her feet, "Why do we have to go through this?"

Vi stared at her friend, helplessly searching for an answer.

"Everything's always been wrong," Claire said, staring out onto the water park, "Out there there's a million girls feeling like this and when they ask why all they get told is because. That's not even an answer! There're people getting shot and mugged not far from here in Dayton County. People's hearts, spirits, and bodies are being systematically broken and destroyed. The world's treating us like garbage, and no one's doing anything. How come every single person has to go through shit like this every damn day and not be able to do a single fucking thing about it?"

All Vi could do was stare at her.

"We can't do anything about it," she said, "It's just the way the world is."

She shook her head.

"Vi, you said it yourself awhile ago. The world's anything we make it," she said, "And right now…I… can't do much about people's hearts breaking. I'm not sure if anyone can help with that…But…I think I can do something about the spirits and the flesh bit."

Claire turned back to Vi.

"You…you wanna know something else? You also said that superheroes are the only ones doing anything," she said, "Well, the Academy hasn't come to Dayton County. They're too busy dealing with the big things to see what's right in their own backyard."

"Claire," Vi said tentatively, "Are you saying-?"

"Yeah," she said, "I think I'm gonna start using my gift to do some good around here."

She concentrated and let her fingers light up with electric sparks.

" I'm gonna start right here in Dayton," she said, "Maybe I can help some people, make sure something like this won't happen."

Neither of them said anything for awhile, they just looked out from the slide. Finally Vi said;

"Well, I'm coming with you."

"Huh?" asked Claire, turning around.

"I'm strong," Vi said, getting up, "And I'm fast. Don't think I'm going to let you go off and do this shit alone."

"I'm not asking you to-" started Claire.

"I know," said Vi, "Which is probably why you need me. But come on Claire. You can't do this single-handedly and you sure as hell shouldn't have to. So don't do this whole lone wolf thing and let me help."

She stopped for a minute as Claire looked at her. Then she smiled and let the sparks fall from her fingers.

"Looks like it's us against the world," she said.

"Like always," Vi laughed.


	9. Chapter 9

June 30, 1985

"This is a lot harder than I thought it'd be," Claire sighed as she licked her ice cream cone.

Shrugging Vi took a bite out of her butter-fudge ripple ice cream cone. It was sometime in the afternoon after Claire had run away from home. After the water slide, Vi had taken her to her home. That was the first time Claire had seen Vi's mother, a fragile looking woman with dark hair that fell thinly just below her ears.

She'd looked delicate, tired, and not just a little bit surprised at Claire's appearance. Vi had explained the situation, or at least some of it when Claire was changing into some of Vi's old clothes. After all, she couldn't go around in pajamas all day. She'd heard the conversation at the door, which consisted of Vi telling her mother that Claire would eventually go home, but she just needed to get away for now.

This was true more or less. While Claire didn't think that her parents would mount a city-wide search for her, she certainly didn't want to get her friend in trouble with the police. That might've been why she called on a payphone a few blocks away. She remembered that she'd clearly said;

"I'm safe, if you care, and I'll be back in a day or two. Sort your shit out before I get there."

In any case, Claire had been shocked at how understanding Vi's mother had been. From the explanation Vi gave the ice cream money had resulted. Her mother's words, exactly, were;

"Everyone needs to get away every now and then."

So Vi had kick-started the motorcycle and taken her to the nearest ice cream place. Even though Vi didn't have a license, she did drive a lot better than she had all those years ago. It was a relief to Claire, who'd feared a repeat of her last ride. They'd gotten their ice cream, and then gone to the water park to sort out some serious business.

Claire didn't view her declaration with any less severity than she had the night before. So after the ice cream and Vi had brought some paper, pencils, and her old book on the Umbrella Academy. Then Claire'd set to work on figuring out how to become a hero, which apparently started with a name.

"Maybe I can come up with one later," said Claire, finishing up her cone.

Vi shook her head.

"Then what'd your costume look like, eh?"

"Why do I even have to wear a costume?"

"It's so people know you're a superhero and not some wacko vigilante," said Vi, "Standard."

"That's the difference?" Claire asked, "A costume?"

"Well…" Vi said uncertainly, "I think there's the powers."

"So powers and a costume?"

"I guess."

"Oh great," said Claire, rolling her eyes, "I'll be sure to tell the police that when they arrest me. I've got a costume, so I'm okay."

"I'm sure there's more than that," explained Vi, "But that's all I know. Maybe for your name you should make it have something to do with your power."

"Like?"

"Well, the Kraken didn't have to breathe and they called him the Kraken which is a giant sea monster," she said, "The Séance can talk to dead people so-"

"I got that," interrupted Claire, "I can do stuff with electricity. So like Electric Girl or something?"

"Sounds like a porn star."

"Good point," Claire said, picking up a pencil and beginning to chew on the end.

"Don't limit yourself," Vi said as she turned her attention back to her ice cream cone, "There are other things."

She thought for a minute. There was something niggling the back of her mind, something from her last vocabulary test before summer break. Yet, the thought was just out of her reach. Shaking it off she said;

"How about Voltage?"

Her friend stopped in mid-lick.

"Voltage?"

"You know, like 44 watts or-" started Claire, wishing she hadn't said it.

"I know what it means," said Vi, "But I think it's an energy drink."

"Just great."

"It's for the best really," Vi said, "Besides, that's taking the power-based name a little too literally."

"Come on," Claire said, "Why do I have to base it on a power? I mean, you don't have a power and you have to have a name."

"I beg to differ. I can kick serious ass," said Vi.

"I'm not having a partner called Kick-Ass," laughed Claire.

Vi grinned.

"Well I'm not having a partner named Voltage."

"Okay, master namer, what do you wanna be called?"

Leaning back Vi chomped into her ice cream.

"I was thinking something kinda Arthurian, like the Lady or Sword Bearer."

Claire dissolved into giggles.

"Oi!"

"Now who sounds like a porn star?" chortled Claire.

"My name's Vivienne, and that's the name of the Lady of the Lake-" Vi argued.

"Still sounds pompous."

"Fine then," snapped Vi, "How about The Nix?"

Stemming her laughter Claire cocked her head.

"What's that?"

"It's kind of like a mermaid, only tougher," said Vi.

"How do you know that?" Claire asked, puzzled.

Finishing her ice cream cone Vi shrugged noncommittally.

"Just one of those things."

Shaking her head Claire reflected on the fact that her friend never ceased to amaze her. At least she had a theme though.

"It's not bad," said Claire, reaching over for Vi's book on the Academy, "Enough with the names though. Let's talk costumes."

"You need a name though."

"Costumes might inspire me," she said, still feeling like there was something she was forgetting.

She flipped through the pages until she found a picture of the Academy. Claire had to squint to get a good look at it. She'd abandoned her cracked glasses, which made it difficult to see. The picture wasn't in color, but they were all in their costumes. She deliberately ignored the figure of her costumed mother in the corner.

"I need something practical," she said, "Something to cover up my glasses…"

"Like a cape!"

"A cape's not practical Vi. And it has nothing to do with glasses."

"But it's awesome!" she insisted, getting up so she could get a better view of the picture, "Look, the Horror's got one!"

"It's still impractical," she argued, "And while we're talking about impractical…your hair Vi."

Vi's hair had grown a little past her waist in the past few years, and turned a vivid shade of blonde. She wound a strand around her finger a few times.

"I've got an idea that which doesn't involve cutting it, if that's what you mean."

"Which is?"

"Me to know and you to find out," she replied, "Anyway, I was always a fan of the Kraken look."

Claire squinted at the picture.

"What, a pirate?"

"I meant the muted colors," muttered Vi, "The boots are cool too."

"They're kinda big."

"Boots can never be too big for kicking ass."

"Enough with the ass kicking stuff!" exclaimed Claire, "Come on, what colors are you going for?"

"Green and silver?" she shrugged, "That's kinda lakey."

"Silver will stick out though," said Claire, still looking at the picture, "It'll have to be muted so it won't catch the light."

"I know that," Vi said irritably, "There's this dress in the thrift store that's kinda grey-silver. I thought it was pretty, but I didn't really care enough about it to look into it…and since we need cheap and semi-finished pieces…"

Claire raised an eyebrow.

"Why do they need to be semi-finished?"

Vi slid down next to her.

"Did you learn to sew when I wasn't looking?" she asked.

"Point taken."

Closing her eyes and the book Claire leaned back up against the waterslide wall. Suddenly it hit her, the thing she was forgetting.

"Torpere."

"Tor-who?" asked Vi, raising her eyebrows.

"It was from our last vocabulary test," she said, "You know, the Latin roots?"

"I got a C- on that," Vi said, "So if you wouldn't mind-"

"It means to be stiffened or paralyzed, the effects of electricity," said Claire.

"A little too intellectual…but kinda catchy," replied Vi.

She grinned and got to her feet. Spreading her arms wide she said;

"I can see it now, the Nix and Torpere, off saving the world!"


	10. Chapter 10

July 12, 1985

"I'm going out," Claire said, picking up her backpack.

"It's nearly dark out there. Where're you going?" her mother asked.

She didn't bother to turn around. Instead she readjusted her glasses, businesslike.

"None of your damned business."

"Claire," her mother sighed, "I don't have time to do this. Your father and I are meeting with the divorce lawyer tomorrow morning and-"

"I've said this before; sort your own shit out," she said, "I'm getting on with my life."

"Listen," her mother said firmly, "I know this is hard for you but you can't stay like this forever. It would really help if you were there. It might sort out the question of custody-"

"Tell them I want to go into a foster home," Claire interrupted, turning around and tapping her healing black eye, "Or if you won't, I could always show them this. Then they'd take me away in a wink."

Her mother paled and Claire felt a sick satisfaction.

"Your father did that-"

"And you didn't stop him," she snapped, "Don't worry; I'm not going to do drugs or anything. I should be back sometime later tonight."

Before her mother could answer Claire was out the front door. With long, even strides she walked towards the water park. In the future, she figured she'd go out the window. She hated getting cornered into talking to her mother. Yet, it was good she had. She'd been having doubts before. Now her resolve was rock solid.

Tonight was the first night of her and Vi's adventuring. She crawled through the fence and cast a look towards her backpack. It was filled with her accessories to her costume. She was actually wearing her real uniform under her jacket. Alright, so maybe it was made of altered scuba and track suits. She'd done quite well on it in her opinion. At least it didn't look like a costume, just like a very fashionable version of…Halloween.

So she knew she was in trouble as she climbed the stairs to the water slides. Vi was already up there, dressed and ready to go. She'd gotten the dress, and then cut it so it was more of a halter-top. She'd found a green and black pantsuit, which she'd taken apart to make sleeves, pants, and a mask. To top it off she'd spray painted a belt green. All in all it wasn't a bad effect, especially with her long blonde hair.

Claire had suggested she cut it, simply because it was dangerous to have something like that to get in the way. Vi had just laughed and said that she'd taken care of it, whatever that meant.

"Ready to do this?" she asked excitedly.

Feeling sick to her stomach Claire nodded. She took off her jacket and fished out a mask and some other things from her backpack. Once she put them on she turned to Vi. She whistled.

"Nice."

Honestly, it did feel like a tracksuit, all black and electric blue. She also felt angry that she'd included a jacket. It was practical, because she was always cold. Yet, it looked sort of like her mother's outfit. So she'd cut and altered until it turned into a cropped jacket with long sleeves that zipped up and came out to a v-collar.

Rummaging around further in her backpack revealed the case of contacts. Claire's mother had bought them for her shortly after the fight, almost as a sort of bribe. Disgusted Claire had announced she was never wearing the damn things. Sighing she took off her glasses and slotted them in. Once again she was having to put practicality before her anger.

"So," she said, "Know where we're going?"

Vi gave her a bleak smile.

"You don't have to look for crime in Dayton County. It's everywhere."

With that cryptic remark she followed Vi out of the water park and into the back alleys of Dayton. Almost immediately they came across four men about to be mug a woman.

"Even numbers," Vi whispered, "I'll take the ones on the left."

After that she looked at Claire with an expectant expression. Claire took a deep breath before stepping forward and saying;

"Didn't you graduate from high school?"

The men turned around and looked at her.

"Cause, with a high school diploma you can probably be making about 20,000 a year. It's probably easier then mugging people too," she said.

Vi stared at her and Claire cursed herself as the men started to laugh. Where had all that come from? It had sounded so much better in her head. Yet, aloud it had sounded so…so…**stupid**. Oh well, it was her first time after all.

"This is easier," one of them snorted, "Watcha gonna do about it?"

She looked at Vi, who grinned.

"They say shock therapy is beneficial," said Claire, allowing large electric sparks come to her fingers.

The men stared at her, wide-eyed. Then they shrugged as they pulled out various weapons. One of them started snickering. Claire turned to Vi, nudging her to say something.

"Then," Vi added, "I'm gonna kick your ass."

There were some more snickers.

"Stupid bitches like you should stay at home," the man said.

"Bite me," Vi snapped.

One man took out a gun. Claire shot out electric sparks and he yelped in pain. Another lunged forward and Vi gave him a roundhouse kick to the face. She then threw him at the other man. Meanwhile Claire had fried the other man with even more sparks. It had taken a minute and a half, maybe less. She'd been scared when she'd started. Now though, she was exhilarated.

"Let's take the trash out," said Claire, gesturing to a dumpster.

Vi grinned and they shoved the men into a large dumpster. As they picked up the man who had spoken to them Vi held up a finger.

"Hold him for me for a minute."

Claire shrugged as Vi walked behind him. Then, she literally kicked his ass. The man groaned in pain.

"I keep my word," she said, "We can keep going now."

The two of them threw him over the edge of the dumpster. Then they turned back to the woman who was looking at them in shock.

"You alright?" Claire asked helpfully.

"Ye…yeah," she stammered.

"You probably shouldn't walk around here at night," Claire said, "Thought everyone in the City knew that."

"I…I'm on vacation…" the woman said.

They shared a look. Only a tourist wouldn't know about Dayton.

"Then think of this as an amusing anecdote you can tell your family when you get back," Vi suggested.

They turned around to walk out of the alley.

"Wait!" the woman called.

They did so, looking at her in surprise.

"Are you…are you new members of the Umbrella Academy?" she asked.

Vi and Claire looked at each other. Claire shook her head.

"We're not in the big leagues," she said, "We're kinda local. We…we're…we're just the Dayton girls."

With that the two of them ran out of the alleyway.


	11. Chapter 11

August 23, 1985

The door gave a small groan as a woman managed to separate it from its frame with a crowbar. A man looked on approvingly as another man shifted a baseball bat from one hand to another.

"Shoddy workmanship," she said, "I mean, it didn't take much at all to get rid of it. You'd think they'd know better if they were opening a business in Dayton."

The man without the baseball bat nodded.

"Let's grab the stuff and get out of here," he said, opening up the now-busted door.

Frowning the woman followed his example. The second man looked around, just to make sure, and went in after her.

"What's your hurry? The fuzz don't fuck with Dayton," she said.

Shaking his head the man headed towards the cash register. He pulled a velvet roll out of his pocket. Once rolled out, it revealed several different sized lock picks. Unlike the woman, he tended to go in for more delicate work.

"It's not the fuzz I'm worried about. I'm hearing the Academy's coming down here," he said, selecting the smallest lock pick and starting his work.

The woman laughed and the other man gave out a strangled chortle.

"Again, the Academy doesn't fuck with Dayton either," she laughed, "Not since the Jennifer Incident. Nah, they're nowhere near here."

"I heard they took in Sam and George last week," he said, "Tied 'em up and put 'em in a dumpster."

"Sounds like rival gangs," the second man grunted

"Gangs might put them in dumpsters. However, gangs wouldn't put them in a dumpster, then put the dumpster out in the street with graffiti saying; 'Hey police! Bad guys in here!' Not to mention the security tapes they included."

"Creative rival gangs," the man suggested, "The idea of the Academy coming here is even preposterous then Lupo coming down here with his bloodhounds."

"Besides, they've been saying the police and the Academy have been on their way here for years," the woman added, "It's practically become an urban legend. So any superheroes here is probably just an urban legend too."

"Here that?" a voice said, "We're urban legends now. Score!"

The three turned around to see two girls standing in the doorway.

"Now we can do this the easy way," Claire said cheerfully, "or the hard way."

"Oooooooooo do pick the hard way!" said Vi gleefully.

The woman quickly picked up the cash register and heaved it at them. Both of them sidestepped it easily.

"Guess that's the hard way," Claire said, giving a mock sigh.

Placing her arms in front of her she shot electric sparks at the woman. She gave a small scream, and the man with the baseball bat leaped forward to help. Before he reached Claire Vi gave him a low kick which sent him sprawling.

"Sloppy!" she said, tsking her tongue.

The man got back up and took a blind, and rather clumsy, swing at her. She dodged it deftly before grabbing a counter with her arms. Using it as support to heave herself up she quickly kicked him several times in the chest. He fell to the ground, banging his head hard. Vi grinned.

Seeing the man who'd been picking the lock try to beat a hasty escape, Claire leapt over the still form of the woman. She wouldn't even have to use her powers this time. Carefully keeping her thumb outside of her fist she swung her arm in a solid right hook. She felt an odd satisfaction as he went down like a log.

"Easy enough," she said as she dragged him over to the other three.

"Fifth mission tonight," Vi said, stretching, "After this one, 'ya wanna call it a night? We've got a test tomorrow."

Claire shrugged.

"Why not? Did you bring the rope?"

"Yeah, but we're running out," replied Vi as she tossed some to Claire, "I mean, you don't think about this in the comics. Heroes tie up bad guys, that's it. You don't stop to think; Gee, what happens if they run out of rope? Or I wonder if that's expensive?"

"Comics are so misleading," Claire said as she looped it around the first man's wrists, "I suppose we could use less rope, but then they might get away."

Just as she finished tying the man's hands there was a groan from the other one. She gave a look at Vi who hurried over to make sure that his bonds were secure. They were, so she figured they didn't have anything to worry about when he woke up. She figured he'd just yell insults at them, or keep quiet, perhaps because they knew their Miranda rights, as usual. As it turned out though, this one was a whole different spectrum of stupid.

"Is this how you get your kicks?" he snarled, "Tying people up? 'Cause if you've got some sort of kinky fetish to satisfy I'm sure there're lots of guys out there who'd be only too happy to-"

Whatever he was planning on suggesting was cut short as Vi punched him in the teeth. To her surprise, Claire saw several of them fall out.

"Themph Academphy ithn't thupposed to uthe brutalitymph!" he said, slurring his words because of the blood pouring into his mouth.

"Well, we're not with the Academy you sick bastard," Vi said sweetly, "So shut the fuck up before I decide you have some other teeth that need to be removed."

Knocking him unconscious Vi looked up at Claire.

"That was, uh, some punch," she said, "I…didn't think people could lose that many teeth in one-"

"I've been working out," she said.

"Yeah…but…" Claire gave up.

Getting to her feet Vi looked down at her outfit.

"Is there something about this that screams slut?" she asked, "I mean, everything's covered except my shoulders, and you can hardly get slut from that. It's not even skin-tight or anything. It's just normal."

"You know guys," said Claire, rolling her eyes, "Perverts, the lot of 'em. Now, let's get these weirdos with the rest of the garbage."

Dragging them out into the street they shoved them into a waiting dumpster. It had kind of become their trademark in the last month or so. As they wheeled it out into the street Claire said thoughtfully;

"That's the fifteenth time someone thought we were with the Umbrella Academy."

Vi gave a shrug.

"So?"

"We're attracting attention," Claire said, "That's the so."

"I'm not sure I like the way that sounds," answered Vi as they wheeled the dumpster out into the street, "With lots of eyes on us they're bound to figure things out that we might not want them to know."

Now it was Claire's turn to shrug. She wiped her hands out, and then paused.

"What do you think of the Academy?" she inquired, "I mean, we might run into them."

"Well…they're heroes," Vi said, "But…I don't think much of getting too involved in them. My mom thinks they're dangerous…and I kinda agree with her. I mean, they say that when the police examined Vanya Hargreeves' car after the accident, the brake line had been cut."

"You and your conspiracy theories," said Claire, rolling her eyes.

"Hey! It might be true," Vi said indignantly, "And do you know what? I don't think I'd mind joining the Academy. That could be cool…but…"

"Hold your horses!" laughed Claire, "We'll cross **that **very unlikely bridge if we come to it."


	12. Chapter 12

12

November 19, 1985

"Mom?" Vi asked, "Are you okay?"

Her mother gave her a wry smile. She'd come in late, like always, from her second job. Her shoes had been kicked off, but she hadn't bothered to remove her coat. It was worrying.

"Why are you up so late?" her mother asked, still rubbing her temples, "You have school tomorrow, don't you? Or has Friday suddenly become a holiday?"

Guiltily Vi shuffled from one foot to another. It was far past midnight.

"I had a paper to do tomorrow…and the date got away from me," she lied, "You know how it is with me and due dates. We…I guess we're just not that compatible or something. I just finished it a little while ago."

The truth was that she and Claire had been out breaking up a robbery at Bob's Meat Market, but she was hardly going to tell her mother that now was she?

"High school," her mother said drily, "It's always getting in the way of something or another. How's Algebra coming?"

"Don't try to change the subject on me," said Vi, "Are you okay?"

"I'm just tired Vi, that's all," she replied.

She knew she was pushing her luck, but she had to. The word tired seemed like an outrageous understatement when it was applied to her mother. She knew she was taking the maximum amount of aspirin for her headaches as it was. Now she looked like she wasn't getting enough sleep either. Vi slid down on the couch next to her.

"Bad day at work?" she asked.

"All days are bad when you're working," she said, "But no, it wasn't worse than usual. I'm just feeling a little under the weather. You know, it's flu season and all that. Maybe I'm coming down with a little something."

Unconvinced, Vi steeled herself for what she was about to say. She knew she'd have to do it sooner or later, but she was sort of hoping it'd be later.

"IwasthinkingIshouldgetajob," she said in a rush.

"What?" her mother asked, looking shocked.

"I was thinking about taking a job. I'm legal to work and shit so it's okay. The extra money'll probably help and you could-"

"Vivienne Grace Hart!" her mother said playfully, "I told you to stop swearing!"

"You're doing it again! Just listen to me for a few minutes," she pleaded, "I'm serious. You need the help and I **can** help. Maybe you could quit one of your jobs and…and…"

Her voice trailed off. Her mother sighed.

"You don't need to do this Vi," she said.

"I do," answered Vi firmly, "Besides-"

She shuffled through the magazines near the couch. Finally she found it under _Time_.

"I got a job at the Taco Shack," she said as she brandished the permission slip/acceptance form, "The pay's not bad and I get automatic employee insurance. But…I mean…it needs your signature because I'm not eighteen and everything…but…'ya know. It'll help."

For a moment her mother stared at it. Then she looked up and bit her lip.

"You've got school," she said, "This would be a huge responsibility and your schedule-"

"-would be hectic," she interrupted, "I know. But we need the money, and I've thought this through pretty damn hard."

She had. Ever since the idea had first come into her head she'd been weighing her options. Would it be tough to balance school, a job, and a career as a champion of justice? Yeah, it'd be tough as hell. Vi knew she was going to lose sleep and she would definitely have to cut back on her crime-busting nights. However, it was the best choice.

"Claire said if I missed any school she'd get me any assignments and if bad comes to worse, cover for me," she said.

Her mother blinked.

"You…talked to Claire before me?"

Vi was caught off guard by this question. She hadn't expected that. Talking to Claire first had seemed practical at the time. After all, it had been because after she'd decided she'd had to inform her partner in justice about her new schedule demands. Besides-

"I wanted to let you know that everything was covered," Vi said truthfully, "I wanna help you out here."

Sighing deeply her mother cupped her face with her hands.

"You've obviously thought this through pretty hard."

Vi nodded.

"I'll sign," she said quietly.

There was a slight pause that Vi was too nervous to fill with words.

"You know…I guess sometimes I forget fifteen years has gone by," her mother continued, "And I think you're still that screaming, wailing bundle that won't give me a break."

Vi grinned.

"I still am," she said.

Her mother burst into laughter.

"Keep that attitude," she said, "And don't you dare change. You know…you…you remind me of your father a bit."

Making sure to mask her shock she just kept grinning. It was rare enough that her mother mentioned her father at all. This was actually the first time she'd said that Vi was like him.

"What," she joked, "was he as badass as I was?"

Her mother smirked and flicked her on the nose.

"What did I say about swearing?" she said reproachfully.

"Mom, I know how to ride a motorcycle. I wear band t-shirts and leather jackets."

"Your point is?"

"Oh come on here," she said sarcastically, "What do you expect me to do except shoot my mouth off? Something along the lines of oh my shiny rainbow unicorns I'm guessing? Hmmmm?"

"Don't get smart with me," she said, "Now you've got school tomorrow. Get up and go to bed."

Grinning once more Vi got up and headed towards her room. Her mother listened to her retreating footsteps, finally terminating in the sound of a door shutting. She sighed and closed her eyes.

"She gets more like you every day," she said to no one in particular.


	13. Chapter 13

January 10, 1986

"Claire!" Vi hissed to her, "You've got to see this!"

Claire turned around, only to meet with Mrs. Carstairs' disapproving glare. Teachers could be such pains. She smiled apologetically and Mrs. Carstairs huffed and went away.

"Tell me at lunch," she whispered back.

Vi mouthed the words;

"You'll never believe it."

After that, lunch couldn't come quickly enough. When the bell finally reached them Claire and Vi walked out nonchalantly into the hall. They walked casually, although Claire couldn't help but notice that Vi kept looking around. Suddenly she pulled her into an empty classroom and shut the door behind them.

"What was that for?" Claire snapped.

Instead of answering Vi threw her backpack onto one of the desks. Zipping it open she fumbled through it for a minute. Finally she pulled out a newspaper and threw it out.

"Look at this!" she said.

Intrigued Claire looked at the front page and gasped. The headline was;

"DAYTON GIRLS BREAK UP DRUG RING. WHO ARE THESE MASKED CRUSADERS?"

There was a rather fuzzy picture of the two of them, costumed and masked. Claire figured it was probably from a security camera.

"Last night at the docks in Dayton County the ringleaders of a notorious drug ring was found tied up with a note for the police," Vi read.

Claire looked at her in shock.

"There's more," Vi said before continuing to read, "Dayton County has long been a hotbed of crime. Over the past months these girls have been reported to stop many crimes in that area. Introducing themselves to some as the Dayton girls and others as Torpere and the Nix, they have made a contribution of unknown intensity in the area. When Sir Reginald Hargreeves (?) of the Umbrella Academy was asked if they were part of his team, he declined to comment. This brings up the question, just who are these masked crusaders? Continued on page 32."

They just stared at each other.

"This is getting kind of big," Vi said uncomfortably, "I mean newspapers? I don't think this is the kind of coverage we want."

"What are you talking about?" exclaimed Claire, "This is **just** what we want! We're highlighting the crime in the area!"

"Yeah, but people are asking," snapped Vi, "Secret identities are secret for a reason."

"I know that," Claire said, "But we're making headway here."

"Just, let's be more careful," Vi mumbled, "I don't like that there's pictures."

Claire felt her heart sink.

"If you want out-" she started.

"Of course I don't want fucking out," Vi snapped, "I'm just saying we have to be a bit more careful. God, you think I'm going to give up my chance to be a superhero? As if!"

Claire smiled.

"Alright then," she said, "We'll try to be more careful. But I doubt anyone's going to pay much attention to this.

.

.

.

Inspector Lupo put a cigarette out on the newspaper. As soon as it had hit the streets he'd called an emergency meeting. That, and only that, was the reason for the several high-ranking, respected policemen and investigators crowded around his desk.

"What do you think Body?" he asked.

The chimp shrugged.

"They're probably with the Academy," he said.

"I highly doubt that," a person from the corner of the room said.

Ah yes. Several high-ranking, respected policemen and investigators and **him**. Why he bothered with these meetings he didn't know. If they could do this like they used to then there wouldn't be any of this damned paperwork and red tape. It would probably be just the two of them.

"Excuse me?"

Another Inspector was looking at the man. Briefly Lupo recognized him as a policeman named Kent Harris. He was good at assessing situations, but he was also unbelievably arrogant. This was confirmed as the man said;

"Your expert opinion is based on what? Who are you anyway?"

Lupo rubbed his eyes. This wasn't going to go well.

"Name's Detective Havoc Torrenton," the man shrugged, adjusting his sunglasses slightly, "And it's based on the fact that the Academy displays its members. Hargreeves is a fucking showman, and he wouldn't let two new members go about unannounced with no media coverage before now. Satisfied with the obvious, asshole?"

Harris got up, opening his mouth. Lupo put out a restraining hand.

"Detective…Torrenton is good in these matters," he said, "Excuse the fact he doesn't use flowery language."

"Didn't teach it where I came from," Torrenton said, leaning back up against the wall.

Lupo shot him a warning look, but said nothing. Pulling out his cigarettes he squinted at the fuzzy picture.

"How's the facial reconstruction going?" he asked.

"Poorly," sighed the man in charge of that department, "It's a pretty bad picture."

Giving a harsh sigh Lupo collapsed into his swiveling chair.

"Torrenton, what do you suggest?"

"Wait a minute!" Harris protested, "Do we get any say?"

Lupo fixed him with a harsh glare before saying;

"No."

Ignoring the fuming Inspector he turned his attention to Torrenton, who folded his arms across his chest and smirked.

"Leave it to me. They'll show up sooner or later."

Tiredly Lupo nodded.

"Everyone may leave- **no not you Torrenton**. We'll convene next week and see where we are then."

Harris shot one last venomous glare at Torrenton before he left with the rest of the officers. As soon as the door shut Lupo looked back at the newspaper.

"What do you really think?" he asked.

Torrenton walked up to the newspaper and made an expression of disgust.

"They're fucking morons."

"…and?"

"And as such they're going to fuck up sooner or later," he said, "And when they do I'll be there with a pair of handcuffs."

"How…how exactly do you plan on catching them?" Lupo asked.

"I'll figure it out when the time comes," Torrenton shrugged

"I'd prefer it if you tell me now."

Torrenton raised an eyebrow.

"You've never questioned my methods before."

Lighting another cigarette Lupo said;

"It looks like they're minors, and two minors who've got the shit beaten out of them doesn't go down well with the press. So I'd appreciate it if you didn't-"

"Oh believe me," Torrenton said dismissively as he walked out of the office, "I have absolutely nointention of hurtingthem. Not much anyway."


	14. Chapter 14

February 2, 1986

"So, I know May's with Jack but I'm pretty sure she's making out with that T.A, Dan, during lunch," Vi said.

"Really?" Claire asked, raising her eyebrows.

"How else do you think she got that last grade on her test? Now…if I can just figure out a way to backmail her with it-"

The tinkle of smashed glass interrupted their conversation.

"I think that's the water supply warehouse," said Vi, "People are always breaking in there. But we have to be quick. I've got a shift at the taco loading docks in half-an hour."

"Taco loading docks?"

"Do **not **ask. I'm supposed to be there now, punched my card in and everything, but he only checks every forty minutes."

"How long ago was that?"

"'bout twenty minutes."

"Let's go then," Claire said.

The two of them moved in as stealthily as possible. The door was unlocked, which made Claire anxious. She made a sign for Vi to watch out as they moved around the warehouse. It took only a few moments for them to realize that no one was there.

"This…doesn't feel right," Claire said nervously.

"It shouldn't."

The two girls turned around to see three figures standing in the doorway. One of them looked nervous, the other was picking at his nails. The two of them were hard to make out though, since the third was practically blocking the doorway.

"Who're you fuckers?" Vi asked cautiously.

The large shape turned on the light switch. For the first time they got a good look at the figures.

"Ahhaaaahhhhh?" said Vi, her voice wobbling.

"We haven't done anything wrong," Claire said, thinking fast, "All we've done is tie people up, which is technically just a citizen's arrest and completely within our rights, and anyway they rob things and kill people so that makes it a public service so really it's a good thing so-"

She knew she was rambling and the figure raised his eyebrows.

"What I'm saying," she said, trying to focus her thoughts, "Is that we've done nothing to warrant the Umbrella Academy's attention."

"We'll decide that," Spaceboy said coldly, "You two have been making quite the headlines."

Claire had to keep her breathing steady. She started looking around for something to concentrate her mind on. As she looked around, she thought she saw a movement in the shadows. Looking back though, nothing was there. After a second she decided to shake it off. She had bigger fish to fry.

For instance, this was the first time she'd never met her uncles in real life. She'd vaguely pictured it a few times, but certainly never like this.

"So did you," Vi said nervously, "But like Torpere said we haven't technically done anything wrong-"

"You took the law into your own hands," Space replied.

Vi narrowed her eyes.

"Don't give us that shit," she snarled, her voice steady and irritated, "You do it every damn day."

"We're trained."

"Actually Luther," said Horror, "She does have a point-"

"I'd appreciate it if you stopped talking," said Space firmly, "Now we'd like the two of you to accompany us."

Folding her arms Claire looked at him suspiciously.

"Why?"

"So you can meet the bastard," cackled Séance.

Space's eyes shot daggers at his brother.

"The Monocle has expressed an interest in meeting you and…possibly extending membership," he said, "We can't have untrained heroes wandering around after all."

Vi looked at Claire for direction. Claire, for her part, was running through everything she knew about Hargreeves from books, newspapers, and the occasional comment from her…she shuddered inwardly…mother. The conclusion; he was a slippery bastard who shouldn't be trusted. Yet…maybe they should have a talk with the heavyweights. You know, make sure they weren't infringing on their territory or anything.

Still…it didn't feel right…It felt like they were being trapped.

"Can we think about this? Like have a day or two?" she said cautiously.

"You have five minutes."

"What?"

"Now or never."

Rolling her eyes Claire motioned for Vi to come over to her.

"I don't like this," she whispered, "This is getting a little too…deep for me. I mean…they're the big leagues and...they probably don't care about the County. Besides, we'd like to stay independent…right?"

The last sentence was spoken hesitantly since it was based on conjecture. She didn't have a clue what Vi thought about joining her heroes. Her fears, however, were allayed as Vi said;

"Yeah. Besides, Spaceboy's acting like a total deuschbag."

Relieved Claire turned around and summoned up her best commanding voice.

"We'd prefer to remain anonymous," she declared.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that," Space said.

"Yeah, well, watcha gonna do about it big guy?" Vi snapped.

Later, Claire would wish that Vi hadn't said that.

"Séance," Space said.

Séance held out his arm and a large water pipe burst above her. Claire was shoved to the right by the blast and Vi was knocked off her feet. Space rushed over to where Claire was and Séance moved over to Vi. She turned around just in time for him to take out a camera with a rather bright flash. She stopped, blinded by the light.

He used the distraction to shove her to the ground.

"Easy-peasy lemon squeezy," he said as he picked up Vi by her hair.

"Klaus," Horror said, his voice radiating, well, horror, "You shouldn't do that by her hair. I mean…she's a girl…"

Séance rolled his eyes. Then he looked at her hair for a moment before taking a deep sniff.

"Hey, freesia!" he exclaimed happily, "With just a hint of blackberry! Refreshing yet relaxing! We use the same shampoo!"

"Stop sniffing my hair!" snarled Vi.

Using her hair as an anchor she flipped over his arm and pulled him to the ground. She kicked him in the ribs before Horror was on her, pulling her away with his tentacles by the arm. An odd crackling came from her hand and she gritted her teeth in pain.

"Bastard!" she snapped.

As soon as he pulled her away from Séance she threw her head back in Horror's face. He groaned as she pulled free and gave him a low kick to his feet. It was difficult to do with her wrist throbbing like it was. Briefly the panicked thought that she couldn't move her fingers came into her mind.

Meanwhile Claire was trying desperately to avoid Space's punches.

"If you'd stay still we can do this quietly," she said, "I don't want to hurt you."

"Too bad," she snapped, kicking him in the face and jumping back to a wall.

From her vantage point she noticed Vi struggling between the other members of the Academy. Thinking desperately, she came up with a plan she hoped would work.

"Nix!" she yelled, "Get on a wall!"

Vi looked at her for a moment before doing as she commanded. Throwing herself to the floor Claire let loose all the electricity she could muster into the water everywhere. She saw the bolts of electricity flow through the members of the Academy. They looked dazed, but she wasn't about to take her chances.

"Run!" she yelled.

Nodding to her Vi threw herself through a window. Claire did the same and they started running into the streets. They took as many twisted alleys and odd shortcuts they could. Neither of them breathed out until they'd reached the water park and hidden their costumes. They met outside by the lounge chairs.

"Now the Umbrella Academy wants our skins! And they have my fucking picture!" Vi moaned a she cradled her wrist, "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!"

"We've got to keep calm," Claire said, "They didn't get us. They don't know where we are and the mask should protect you-"

"How many girls in Dayton have hair like mine?" Vi exclaimed, "Even if I cut it then people would suspect the sudden switch. And even with the mask they can probably infer a lot. Then they're going to link you to me and-"

"Look," Claire said, trying to hold back her own panic, "All we gotta do is lie low for a few days, make sure no one suspects us and everything'll be okay, see?"

"That's all well and good but I really can't feel my fingers!" Vi said.

Claire looked at her friend's wrist and panic welled up in her. It was badly bruised, and swelling fast.

"Can you move them?"

There was a rather uncomfortable pause before Vi shook her head.

"I think you sprained it," she said, "Maybe you broke it or tore a ligament too. We need to get you to the hospital-"

"I can't afford a goddamn hospital!" Vi snapped, "I…I can't."

There was a pause.

"I can splint it…but if you tore anything…" Claire said uncertainly.

"Yeah," Vi said, "You do that. And don't worry. I…I'll figure something out."

She looked at her watch.

"…and now I have to get to work," she groaned, "This is** ASS**!"


	15. Chapter 15

February 3, 1986

"Mrs. Hart?" Claire asked as Vi's mother opened the door, "Vi wasn't here at school today, so I brought her homework and I was wondering…"

Her voice trailed off as she saw the haggard look on Vi's mother's face. Claire couldn't help but notice the dark circles under her eyes, or the fact that she was leaning up against the doorway for support. She smiled weakly.

"That was really nice," she said.

Feeling uncomfortable Claire shifted from one foot to another.

"Um…I was actually wondering why she was absent," asked Claire nervously, "I mean…she's not sick or anything, is she?"

Vi's mother sighed.

"I wish. She broke her arm last night."

The image of Vi's swelling, bruised hand came into her mind. It couldn't have been worse than a sprain. Claire's grade in anatomy wasn't very good, but that…that must've been a sprain. There was no way that it could've actually been a broken arm…could there?

"Huh?" she asked.

"There was an accident when she was unloading crates last night," her mother continued, "A stack of boxes went over and Vi had just turned around…it was a pretty nasty break."

She blinked.

" Not to mention she sprained her wrist when she tried to get out of the way," her mother continued.

Realization dawned.

"What'd the hospital say?" she said cautiously.

"Her left arm's out of commission for a few weeks," she sighed, "But they said it could've been worse."

Her mouth going dry Claire formed the words;

"How is she?"

"About as good as can be expected," her mother said, giving a wry laugh, "Anyway, don't stand there on the porch all day. Vi's in her room."

Claire nodded, swallowing to keep her throat moist. Taking a tentative first step she entered the house and went down the hall o where she knew Vi's room was. The floors creaked under her weight and she nearly stumbled a few times on the way in. It wasn't just because of uneven floorboards though. It was also out of sheer blinding rage.

She opened the door to her friend's room and saw Vi with her arm propped up. She winked at her.

"Some accident on the job, eh?" she asked as the door closed.

For a minute Claire couldn't find the words to express exactly what she wanted to say. After she managed to delete all the adjectives and swearwords out of her speech; she finally settled on;

"You broke your own damn arm? What the hell is going on in that head of yours?"

So maybe she hadn't gotten rid of **all **the swearwords. Vi blinked at her before shaking her head.

"I thought it was pretty damn smart," she shrugged.

In response Claire let the books fall on the floor with a solid thump. Then she sat down angrily at the foot of Vi's bed, her arms crossed.

"I don't," she said, "Not at all. To me it looks like you just made things worse. Your mother's worried as hell-"

"Yeah, but I didn't see any way on getting around that," sighed Vi, frustrated, "But better for her to think there was a work accident than to know I stacked the boxes wrong so I'd break my arm."

"Yeah, on that note, mind telling me how this is going to help at all?" she asked scathingly.

Vi rolled her eyes.

"Just listen to my version of things, okay?"

"Yeah, you broke your arm to cover up your wrist!" hissed Claire, "That's like using sledgehammer to open a pickle jar!"

"Listen for a minute!" insisted Vi.

Sighing angrily Claire said;

"Fine, spill."

"Breaking my arm at work means Taco Shack's paying for my bills 'cause I got hurt on the job," grinned Vi, "Then I'm getting paid leave, again 'cause I got hurt on the job. It's also a terrific alibi; she wasn't out fighting crime, she was at her job getting her arm broken. That should just about take care of the photo. So glad I punched in early."

Claire's jaw dropped.

"That…that…that's really manipulative."

"Yep."

"…and…and…completely **brilliant**!"

"Yep," Vi said proudly.

"We should go out tonight," Claire said, thinking fast, "That way no one would think it was us-"

"Heeellllllllllooooooooo?" asked Vi, "Broken arm here!"

"Yes!" said Claire, getting up.

Her friend looked at her like she was crazy. However, Claire was feeling a eureka moment, and she wasn't about to let anyone slow her down.

"Don't you see? That's when a terrific alibi becomes a brilliant one. If you don't use your arm much then you can do pretty good. And we'll only do petty crime break-ups. Then they'll see that we're still active when you get hurt and that'll completely disconnect you from us…and then they'll never look at me either!"

Vi blinked.

"Now who's being manipulative?" she smirked.

.

.

.

That night the Nix and Torpere broke up a robbery and three attempted muggings. The police were frustrated when they found the criminals in the morning. Ever since the first article the Dayton Girls had turned into valuable press material, and their exploits were quite popular. Just as popular and open to discussion was the fact that neither the police nor the Umbrella Academy had commented on the two new superheroes.

Desperate, the police pumped the criminals the two of them brought in for information. However, none of them were much help with any of the questions. Both of them had been wearing masks and they weren't particularly bright. Criminals of that caliber generally weren't and it wasn't as if Lupo had expected any extraordinary results.

The criminals weren't the most observant type either. After all, no one noticed that the Nix only fought with her right arm. She didn't use it to do any back flips as she had done in the past either. However, they couldn't be blamed. They were too busy being kicked by her feet and fried by Torpere's sparks to notice such minute detail.

Only one person noticed this, someone who'd been watching very closely for several nights. It was particularly fortuitous that he'd been watching the night after their run-in with the Academy. Carefully the detail of her arm was added to other details until a conclusion was formed. This conclusion was filed away for future reference as the figure watched the two girls drag several men away to throw in the dumpster.

Torpere had frowned and straightened up, something she did far too much for his comfort. That was why he backed a little bit more into the shadows. After a minute she frowned again and went back to her work. The two of them left the alleyway, Torpere still looking uncomfortable. The figure let out a long breath. He'd have to be more careful in the future. He couldn't have them notice him until he was ready.


	16. Chapter 16

February 10, 1986

"The situation's not what I thought it was," Torrenton said as he took a seat in Lupo's office.

Lupo raised his eyebrow and lowered his newspaper.

"Oh?"

"For one thing they're not mask-wearing morons," continued Torrenton, putting his feet up on Lupo's desk, "They have at least some idea of what they're doing."

For a minute Lupo stared at Torrenton's feet. Then he said;

"Feet off the desk."

"I've been on 'em all night," grunted Torrenton.

He lit a cigarette as Lupo sighed.

"Fine...for now. Now, what do you know?" he asked.

"Several things," he said as he lit a cigarette, "One of which is that these girls are a lot more helpful than we thought. And as I said, they've got an idea of what they're doing. Not only that, but they're pretty dedicated."

"Why does this matter?" Lupo said impatiently.

Torrenton snorted.

"I've been telling you for years we needed some good officers down in Dayton."

"We don't have officers to spare," snapped Lupo.

"You should find some," Torrenton said, "Now we've got two, if you'll excuse the word, 'superheroes', making us look bad because they're succeeding."

There was a long pause as Lupo looked Torrenton up and down. At long last he said;

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like you're forgetting whose side you're on here. Sounds like you're sympathizing with them."

Blowing a smoke ring Torrenton shook his head.

"I've never been on anyone's side," he said.

"Jesus!" exclaimed Lupo, "You are, aren't you? I need your full undivided attention on this and you're supporting the people who you're supposed to bring in! You of all people-"

"I'm going to stop you there," said Torrenton, narrowing his eyes, "Because we both know that if you say another goddamned word I'll throw you out that goddamned window. And after everything we've been through, I'd hate to have to do that."

Lupo took another long look at him. Torrenton, however, was the wrong person to try to stare down. Knowing this Lupo sighed after a few minutes.

"So, I take it you aren't going to arrest them if you run into them?" he asked.

"We'll see," Torrenton shrugged as he got up.

Warily Lupo watched Torrenton go out the door. After it had been shut for a few minutes he muttered;

"Figure it out. You do need to pick a side. Otherwise we're all in deep shit."

.

.

.

"How's the job?" asked Claire as the two of them trudged through the street that night.

"They're still tiptoeing around me," Vi replied, "They don't know we don't have cash for a lawyer. But at least I'm not at the loading docks anymore."

Claire nodded as she absently tossed the last man into the dumpster.

"You know that's kind of a cliché?" a voice asked, "Taking out the trash and all that shit."

Both girls whipped around to see that absolutely no one was there. Because they had read the comic books, and sometimes they did teach good lessons, they bothered to look behind them the other way, and upwards as well.

"Don't worry," the voice continued, "I don't want this to get complicated."

"That's not the same as I won't hurt you," snapped Claire.

There was a dry chuckle.

"Observant," the voice said, sounding amused.

"Fucking bad guys and their fucking mind games," muttered Vi.

"No need for that. I'm just here to talk."

"Yeah?" Claire said, knowing it wasn't particularly clever, "Well I don't talk to people I can't see."

"Fair enough."

Slowly a figure emerged from the shadows on their left. As he moved into the light Claire could make out a rumpled suit and untied tie. Over this was thrown a trench coat that looked like it had seen better days. The same went for his sunglasses, which he was wearing despite the fact it was night.

These things were weird, but they paled in comparison next to the badge that gleamed on his right lapel. Claire swallowed hard as he casually lit a cigarette.

"You're a detective," she said blankly.

"What tipped you off?" he asked, "The coat? The suit? The badge? What?"

"Just cut to the chase," snapped Vi, "We don't have to be here you know."

"Yeah," he said, "You do. You need to find out how much I know about the two of you, how much I'm going to tell my…boss. Seeing as I'm a detective, name's Torrenton by the way, then you probably know that I report to Lupo."

As though it were her second nature Vi aimed a kick at him. He dodged it, spun around, and grabbed her left arm. She paused for a second and he grinned. Vi's face went pale as he increased the pressure on it slightly. Claire stepped forward.

"Let. Her. Go," Claire hissed, sparks dancing all the way up to her arms.

"This arm," he said, "It's broken. Nice cover-up."

Letting go he moved away. Claire, however, kept the sparks flowing up and down her arms. Rubbing her arm slightly Vi moved backwards until she was standing next to Claire.

"Now I don't think you quite realize it," he said, "but you're rather famous. However, the thing that **they**, by which I mean the press,don't realize is that you don't have a damn thing to do with the Academy. Especially after the stunt at the waterworks."

"How-?" started Claire.

"Later," he said, "Now, the minute they figure that out the shit is going to hit the fan. You see, it's going to put the Academy in an awkward situation for several reasons. The most important is that they were forced into their line of work. It only made sense that sooner or later someone was going to do it voluntarily. That's making them sweat, because it means they may be replaced by people much more devoted to the cause. This is, in a way, the reason I haven't tried to figure out just who the hell the two of you are yet. Yet, however, is the operative term."

Putting her hands on her hips Claire stared down at him.

"And if yet were to be…removed?" she asked.

"Not so fast," Torrenton said, "For me to stop my investigation a requirement needs to be met. You need to be monitored right now to make sure you don't get killed. It looks like you've got the basic formula down pat. But if you were actually playing with super villains, and believe me, they'll come, then you'd be dead in about ten seconds."

"What are you proposing?" asked Vi carefully.

He smirked.

"I'll make this clear right now," he said, "It's not a partnership, and it sure as hell isn't a training program. It's going to be pointers and me making sure the police don't catch you. It's also a way to keep an eye on you so you don't get in **too **deep. It'll quit the minute you guys can actually handle yourselves."

"And if we refuse?" Claire asked, "We could leave right now."

"Yeah," shrugged Torrenton, "You could, or you could try to beat me up like the Nix here, which managed to proves how smart an idea that is. But I'll come back, and I'll bring squad cars. This way I'm letting you continue on, but I'm also clearing my conscience."

Claire looked at Vi, who looked back helplessly.

"Looks like we don't have a choice," she said.

"Good," Torrenton smirked, "Back here, tomorrow at nine. Once a week after that. Tell me when you're taking a night off, because you are teenagers and you're bound to have a date or a paper or some shit like that."

He turned to go.

"Nah-ah," snapped Claire, "Now you tell us how you know so much."

Torrenton turned around and rolled his eyes.

"I've been tailing you for about a month. As for the cast…anyone really paying attention can tell."

"Great," Claire said, "We've got a stalker."

"Not at all," he replied, "It was always my intention to make sure you 'idealistic' kids didn't get killed in a hellish way. I was going to talk to you the night at the waterworks but-"

"The Academy?" Claire asked.

"My brothers have a habit of getting in my way," he said.

She blinked as her head processed the words.

"Brothers?"

Torrenton raised an eyebrow. Almost hopping up and down Vi pulled on Claire's arm.

"I fucking told you the rumor about the Kraken joining the police was true! Fucking **told **you!"

"Haven't gone by that name in awhile," Kraken said, "But I suppose it's better than nothing. Tomorrow at nine."

Then, with Vi still pulling on Claire's arm, he turned and disappeared into the shadows.


	17. Chapter 17

March 14, 1986

"Is that all you've got?"

Claire glared at Kraken as she wiped the blood from her lip. Sweat poured from her forehead, soaking her mask. For the first time she realized how impractical the damn things were. This though, of course, came secondary in conjunction with her aching limbs. From the sidelines she could see Vi was tensed to intervene. However, there would be no need.

Ever since Kraken had found the two of them they'd been on what could only be called a rigorous training schedule. He'd made sure they knew what to do if they ran into people with powers, or people with grenade launchers. There were also exercises that Claire felt could've been done in a gym, sans the biting remarks. After that they'd had to do their normal work on top of it.

Some of the exercises were worse than others. For example, the push-ups and the feeling she'd entered superhero boot camp weren't too bad. Besides, the tips were good and would definitely come in handy. She was particularly glad about the teaching for what to do with super villains. So she wasn't ungrateful. It was useful shit to be sure, but it left marks.

However, since he'd specified fighting against someone with powers…and since Vi didn't have any…she'd found herself in a rather odd situation. After all, it only made sense that practice would make perfect. So she found herself sparring with someone a lot tougher and a lot more acquainted with his powers than her.

Truth be told, it had been her idea. She'd thought about what he said and what she knew and had ended up with that as her conclusion. It had seemed highly practical, sensible, and smart at the time. He'd been surprised, but amused. He'd agreed, warning her that the last thing it would be was easy.

Claire had accepted that. Kraken was rather forthright and she knew that it was going to be painful. The fact that he was brutally honest made her feel well-disposed towards her uncle. The fact that he was a sarcastic violent bastard made her hate him, so she figured it was mixed feelings. Either way, he was still better than her other uncles. At least he hadn't tried to force her to meet her grandfather.

Vi had agreed to do it too, as though attempting to give Claire moral support. She was doing better than her since Vi had always relied on her physical prowess. This made sense because of her lack of powers. She always ended up losing, just like Claire, but not too badly and mostly because she was up against someone much more experienced and a good decade and a half older.

However, she was showing a good deal of improvement and was turning out to be even stronger than Claire had thought. There had been this one time where Vi had chipped a piece of a wall off that she was using to kick off of. Once or twice she thought she'd seen some surprise on Kraken's face, though it was hard to tell.

Things had been rather different for Claire. Before now she had rarely had to be strong or fast. Electrical sparks had always seemed to do the trick. So she had let her physical fitness slide a little to ever so slightly above average. She'd always relied on the sparks to save her before then. Using them from a distance she'd managed to give the opponent enough of a shock to get them to stop moving. Trying that on Kraken was like trying to stop a canon with a piece of cardboard though.

So yes, she had gotten kicked and hit rather more than she'd liked. She'd stopped Vi from interfering more than though and refused to let Kraken go easy on her. That would just be counter-productive. Claire knew she needed to be stronger, and so she continued. However, the bruises and the split lips also mounted up.

Now she was there, sweating buckets, bleeding, and fresh out of ideas. Kraken smirked at her as he adjusted his rolled up sleeves.

"Is it?" he asked.

Claire dropped and tried to aim a kick at his legs. He jumped at the right moment, just in time to aim another kick which sent her backwards.

"Some damned good improvement there," he observed, "But not good enough. Tell me, are you just playing at this? Because I have some reports back at the office that really need to be filled out-"

Snarling Claire threw a trash can at him. He dodged again and the trash can hit the ground with a loud clanging noise.

"Wake up the whole neighborhood why dontcha?" he asked, looking at the trash can and shaking his head, "There's something you've got to learn and it's called subtlety. You want another encounter with the Umbrellas that you're not ready for? Because, and this is just being honest, you were very fucking lucky that last time."

She moved to the side, figuring that a side blow to his head would work, or at least help her save some face. Instead he whirled around and punched her in the stomach. Claire was pushed back several feet, gasping. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Vi move forward, and she shook her head ferociously.

"That might be a bad idea, cutting her out," Kraken said as he watched Claire's motion, "The biggest advantage you have over the Academy is the fact that the two of you work as a team, in sync. You're kinda independent, but incredibly mindful of the other. Umbrella bastards just stand around waiting for Spaceboy's orders, and you can just guess how smart that is."

Claire got to her feet, a touch unsteadily. Her stomach felt like it had had a whole drilled in it and her head was ringing. On top of this her damn lip was still stinging. She blinked, trying to concentrate.

"You're tenacious," he said, "I'll give you that. But what you're doing is a start. You can go on as usual now. I'm calling it a night."

"It's not over yet," Claire snapped.

There was some amusement on Kraken's face, but mostly there was irritation.

"You've got to know when to cut your losses."

As a plan formed in Claire's head she gave him a grim smile.

"Guess you'll have to teach me that as well."

He gave a harsh sigh and watched tiredly as Claire launched herself at him, attempting to punch his jaw. Kraken grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back. She swore.

"I could break this right now," he said, "But I'm not going to. Just know that I can."

"Yeah? Well, how about you know that I can do this?"

Before he could respond Claire concentrated and let her powers flow through her body. Using herself as a conductor she managed to give what she thought lovingly as a full-body shock. She'd done this only a few times before and it had the odd effect of shocking both giver and recipient. To her it felt pleasant. from the way Kraken was gritting his teeth he probably thought otherwise.

After a minute he let her go and she stumbled on the ground. It had taken a lot out of her. She looked up to see him advancing, but looking at her with something approaching a smile.

"Not bad. Don't try it again," he said, "You really are better. Now get a move on."

Grinning scrambled to her feet. Still moving clumsily she joined Vi, who had started clapping enthusiastically. The two of them bolted down an alley as Kraken removed his sunglasses to reveal the eye patch underneath. Methodically he started cleaning the lenses with the edge of his shirt.

"Gotta remember to wear rubber soles next time," he said to himself, still wincing occasionally.


	18. Chapter 18

March 18, 1986

Quietly Claire shut the door behind her. She walked a little awkwardly, as she had in the last few days. If it continued like this she'd need to get some ice packs soon. Mentally she added icepacks to the things that they don't tell you about being a superhero in the comics. Why weren't the comics ever even slightly realistic? She was jerked out of her musings by an irritated voice saying;

"This has got to stop."

For a moment she froze. The reaction, she knew, was from the days when she was five and had been caught eating Play-Doh. However, Claire hadn't seen Play-Doh in years now, and she had long stopped respecting her mother. Rolling her eyes she turned around to face her.

"Come again?" she asked.

"Sneaking out at night," she replied tersely, "And before you try to protest, don't. You've got to remember that I was a teenager once. A teenager who hated her father to boot. I snuck out a lot, sometimes five times a night, and I know all of signs. So don't try to be clever because that would be a really stupid move."

Thinking about her options Claire shifted her backpack from one shoulder to another. They weren't very numerous.

"I'm not trying to be clever and I'm definitely not sneaking out," she said, "I'm coming in through the front door, aren't I?"

"At two a.m. And you're only using the door** this** time," her mother conceded, "Generally you just go through the window at around midnight. Then you climb the drainpipe and hit the ground running very fast. If nothing else, the trampled foliage outside your window is an excellent sign."

Inwardly Claire swore. It was typical of her mother to notice something like that.

"It's a boy, isn't it?" she said, leaning against the kitchen doorframe, "And one who's a bastard on that."

Claire wasn't actually seeing someone. She didn't have the time these days for boys. Now that she thought of it she never really had. Most of the ones at her school were idiots any way. The idea that her mother automatically assumed she'd chose some jerk rankled though. Didn't she think she wasn't selective at all when it came to those things?

"How would you know that?" snapped Claire.

"First of all," she said, "I was married to your father for fifteen years. That means I can recognize those signs as well."

Oh yes. Ever since the divorce had preceded her mother had started making biting remarks about her father at every opportunity. At least she wasn't trying to turn Claire against him like he'd tried to do when she was over at his. Her mother was smart enough to know that she hated both of them. That was the only thing she had going for her.

"What kinds of signs?" she asked.

"Your bruises," her mother said, "And the split lips, and the way you walk like it's painful. Don't think I haven't noticed."

For a minute Claire was speechless. She'd noticed all that? That was bad.

"They're from the gym," she said, "I've been working out."

Technically that was true while at the same time being completely false.

"Uh huh," her mother said, "You're lying. I can tell."

"Yeah, I suppose you'd know all about lying. Well I'm not stupid enough to go out with some abusive bastard," Claire snarled, "I'm not **you**!"

Her mother looked momentarily taken back. Trying to use this to her advantage Claire whirled around and headed towards the staircase. With speed that surprised her her mother moved in front of it, blocking her.

"You're not going to get away that easy," her mother said, "You're grounded for at least a week. We'll see if that helps with the situation."

Something snapped. Everything had turned upside down in the last few months, and she thought it was easy? Nothing she'd done in the last months had been easy, or fair, or even particularly normal. She'd fought crime and estranged herself from her parents. She'd learned that she could trust the friends and allies she chose, but not her own flesh and blood. Anger flared inside Claire.

"You think this is easy?" Claire snapped at her, "Do you think any of this is easy? To come home and have to deal with you almost every damn day! And on the days I don't have to deal with you I have to deal with my fucking father. There's no breaks because neither of you have enough common sense to just fuck off and leave me alone!"

If her mother had gone pale or gotten angry like she'd used to when Claire yelled, than the whole things would've been easier. However, she just stood there, completely impassive. Anger flared from a flame into an inferno.

"You didn't even have the common sense not to get married or to use some form, **any **form, of fucking birth control! No! You had to go off and be a slut and get stuck in a situation you'd regret!" Claire near-screamed, "You didn't have the sense to adopt me out or get an abortion or something! Now leave me alone!"

Her mother continued to stare at her with a blank face. Nothing about her stance, expression, or any other sign indicated that she'd even heard Claire. All she did was continue to stand firmly in front of the staircase.

"What the hell is wrong with you!? Why the fuck are you just standing there! At least say something!" yelled Claire.

Blinking slowly her mother said;

"You've said all this before in different tones with different words. If you were going for shock value then I'm afraid you've fallen rather flat."

Although she wasn't quite sure, Claire was sure that she could hear her blood pulsing and her face flushing.

"I understand that this must be a…difficult time in your life. But you're having a tantrum," her mother continued quietly, "Now that's childish and you know it. Also, like I said before, it needs to stop. This is where I put my foot down and where you should draw the line as well."

Claire clenched her fist as she fought to keep the electrical sparks inside. As much as she hated her, she wasn't going to attack her. Nor was she going to let her know about what she was.

"Do you think what you're saying is going to help?" she hissed, "I don't have to do anything you say, and I sure as hell don't have to be grounded if I don't want to. Do you think I'd just mindlessly follow your commands? You were bad at this, you always were. You're a terrible mother!"

She watched in growing anger as her mother simply blinked.

"Be that as it may," she said, "I heard a rumor you're going to obey your mother's punishment."

An odd feeling came over Claire as she realized that she did have to obey. Her mother seemed to get anything she wanted. Fixing her eyes on her mother she spoke her words calmly and deliberately;

"I hate you."

Her mother nodded.

"I know. Now go to your room. You'll find that I've nailed the window shut."

Claire turned away, her eyes streaming with furious tears. She didn't look back. If she would she might've noticed that her mother was crying as well.


	19. Chapter 19

March 19, 1986

"Status report."

"Not good," Horror answered as he turned around in his swiveling chair.

On the computer screen in front of him was displayed the picture of the Nix. The computer was currently trying to match it with several other pictures by using common characteristics. It had been running like this for the past few days.

"We've got the photo Klaus took…but the computer keeps saying she doesn't exist. I don't think she was born in the City, nor was she registered. It might just be because she's wearing a mask though."

"Yes," Space said tersely, "I noticed that. So that's the only thing stopping you?"

"That and the fact that Klaus used cheap, poor quality film."

Séance cackled madly from his position floating in the air. He looked defensive as they all turned to stare at him.

"Kodak's expensive you know!"

Space rubbed his temples.

"Monocle's not going to be pleased."

"When is the old bat ever pleased?" snorted Séance, "If he'd just take the stick out of his ass every now and then-"

"Séance!"

"Yeah," sighed Séance theatrically, "Like **that's **ever going to happen."

Spaceboy settled for shooting his brother a glare. Séance was too high to interpret that, or perhaps he just didn't care. Space was inclined to believe it was the latter. He rubbed his temples once more before turning to his sane brother.

"Have the newspapers done any more releases?" he asked.

"Well," Horror said nervously, "Do you want the good news first, or the bad news?"

"Good."

"Technically no," replied Horror, "Da-Monocle got them to keep quiet about anything else. But people are periodically writing in for more information. There were twelve letters to the editor about it this week alone."

"That's the **good **news?"

"Yes."

"Do I even want to know the bad news?" said Space, "Wait, don't answer that. Just tell me."

"The magazines are printing things."

Sighing Space leaned back in one of the chairs specially designed for him. It sagged slightly under his weight.

"I don't think we've had a P.R crisis like this before," said Space.

"Oooooooooooooooh?" asked Séance, "What about the Jennifer Incident?"

"We don't talk about that," Space said sharply.

Séance shrugged. Breathing in deeply Space said;

"Gentlemen, I think we're going to have to resort to drastic measures."

.

.

.

With controlled movements Vi climbed out of the pool. Ever since they'd started to get serious about the superhero thing she'd told Claire that she'd started swimming on an almost daily basis. It seemed like she had a natural talent at it, and apparently it helped her calm down. Something or another about the cold water washing over her. From what Claire knew she'd always liked the feeling. Maybe it was the Vivienne coming out in her.

Claire had once remarked that she looked like a mermaid when she was swimming, so graceful and with all that long hair. There had been a tinge of envy in her voice, because water had never had the same effect on her. Maybe it was the fact that she was so completely tied to electricity. Whatever it was though, she wasn't very good at swimming and it was playing hell with her P.E grade.

That was why she'd come after school to get some extra practice in. Of course, she also wanted to talk about things she couldn't talk about in school.

"You called your mom a slut and thought you could get away with it?" asked Vi as she swam with even strokes, "Honestly Claire-"

"I was angry," Claire said at the pool's edge, swirling her feet around in the pool, "but it means I won't be able to make Wednesday's meeting. Sorry about leaving you with the hard-ass."

"Yeah, that's going to make it lonely."

"He gets on my nerves sometimes," Claire said, kicking the water, "My uncles are all either bastards or hard-asses."

Vi, in so far as it was possible, shrugged in the pool.

"What gets me about the whole thing," said Claire, "Is that we started this because we had no control. Now things are still out of our control."

"Not really," replied Vi, "We could stop doing all of this if we want to. It's just…we don't."

Sighing Claire withdrew her feet from the water.

"Do you think, in like three years, we'll still be doing this?" she asked.

"Huh?"

"When we're eighteen, and college is coming up, do you think we'll still be doing this?" she elaborated.

For a minute Vi was silent. Then she submerged herself completely in the water before coming back up again.

"Hard to say," she said, "But, look at all the difference we're making in these few months. Years might solve the problem, or get damned close anyway."

"I wish I had your confidence," snorted Claire.

"No, you don't."

"Excuse me?"

"Claire," sighed Vi as she reached the pool wall, "I'm uh, not exactly confident. I'm just dismissive."

Claire frowned.

"Explain."

She watched her friend struggle with her words for a minute as she began swimming towards the opposite side.

"You've got the grades," she said, "You're definitely going to get into the college of your choice. You've got the money to back it up –don't talk about how you don't want your parent's money because we both know you're going to use it. Also, when you stood up to your uncles, that was fucking awesome."

"You…you were the one swearing at them," Claire said, surprised.

"I swear a lot when I get nervous," she said, "I probably just would've been gaping at them. You're also a much better hero than me."

"No I'm-"

"I'm clumsy," elaborated Vi, "I knock things over. I hit people way too hard because I'm not sure how much power to use. You've got everything under control and use calculated force. Don't try to argue with me about that."

"I…but-"

The look on Vi's face showed she was serious about not arguing.

"But…why does the other stuff matter?" she settled for instead.

"I don't want to spend the rest of my life in Dayton," answered Vi as she climbed out of the pool, her long hair dripping behind her, "I know I'll probably just get into a community college, but it's going to be hard to get the cash to back it up."

Mutely Claire passed her a towel. She watched her friend wrap it around her hair.

"I mean," Vi said, "You've got a future to think about too, don't you? What do you want to do? Where do you want to go?"

For a moment Claire closed her eyes. She saw her whole life laying around her, like a chess board filled with events. After awhile she breathed out.

"Anywhere but here," she said, "I still want to get away from my parents. But…not until we finish what we started."

Vi grinned at her as she picked up another towel.

"Glad we're of one mind."

There was another slight pause.

"And for the record Vi," Claire said, "You kick a lot more ass than I do."

Her friend's laughter filled the pool hall.


	20. Chapter 20

March 21, 1986

Vi checked the time on her watch. Her mother wouldn't be in for another three hours. That gave her plenty of time. She fished under her mattress for a minute until she pulled out her costume. She laid it on the bed and then brushed out her hair. It didn't do for a tangle to get caught in something. Then she put it on, taking great care with the mask.

Being the Nix made her different, the person she'd always felt like she should be. For with this identity she could protect her mother, even the whole neighborhood. Maybe then her mother wouldn't have so much to worry about all the time. Actually, she'd probably have more to worry about if she had even the faintest inkling what her daughter was doing.

Fixing the mask on her face Vi looked at the window speculatively. While overused, it was the easiest way to get out of the house. Other than that all she had to do was make sure that she put something under her blanket in case her mom came home early and checked on her. Once it was done she opened the window and climbed out. Then she moved up the rooftop and jumped to another. There were only twelve rooftops between her and the meeting place, and it was definitely the easiest way to do it. Not to mention the coolest.

Climbing the rooftops was something she'd learned during training. Training, or monitoring as Kraken called it, was pretty tough. It was getting hard to cover any injuries gotten from them too. However, Vi had been getting injuries from hitting people too hard and from being hit in since day one was good at covering them up. Apparently Claire wasn't so lucky.

Oh yeah, training was going to be even worse that night since Claire wasn't going to be there. At least a week of doing this alone with, as Claire put it, 'the hard-ass'. Kraken being a hard-ass wasn't too bad though. She'd never tell anyone, but she'd be disappointed if it turned out he **wasn't **a hard-ass. Him being a softie and going easy on them didn't fit into her picture of him at all, and she had a very definite picture.

It had all started when she and Claire had wanted to see _Killer Death Mutant Nightmare Invaders from Mars_. They were ten then, but they needed to be eighteen to get in. So Claire had come up with a plan. They'd bought tickets for _The Super Happy Fun Bunny Fluffykin's Big Adventure _and went into the theater showing the other movie instead. Then Claire had gone to go get popcorn and Vi had been left in the back of the theater. Then she'd seen it.

_The Rise and Fall of the Umbrella Academy_ had been a fifteen minute short in front of the film. Not many people had heard about it since five days after she'd seen it Hargreeves had sued for libel and all copies were destroyed. They'd showed clips of the world-saving, the fights, and newspaper snippets. She'd never forgotten the Kraken from them.

At that time a lot had been going on. She'd started to realize how much her mom was struggling and she'd wanted to do something. Then she'd seen a hero who didn't care if the cameras were watching when he picked a fight with siblings. He'd looked like he didn't take shit from anyone and that's what she'd wanted, and still wanted, to be for her and her mom. So he was kind of her favorite. Kind of like a childhood hero…or a role model.

Yes, she knew he was a shit-tastic role model. However, just the idea of the kind of fuck-you attitude was catching. The idea that she wouldn't have to take shit. The idea that she'd have 'You should see the other guy' on her gravestone. It was something that appealed to her in a way nothing else had.

Snapping out of her musings Vi leapt down from the fire escape she was on into the meeting place.

"Here!" she said cheerfully, throwing her arms into the air.

"Yes, I can see that," Kraken grunted, coming out of the shadows, "Now do sixty one-armed push-ups. Now."

Rolling her eyes she started. As she did the exercise he took out a cigarette and lit it.

"Those things will kill you you know," she said.

Kraken laughed bitterly.

"I knew a girl once," he said, "She smoked. I told her she'd die of cancer. Two weeks later she died in a car crash."

Vi switched arms.

"The moral of the story is…?  
"Shit happens," he said, "We're all going to die one way or another so a cigarette won't actually do much in the grand scheme of things."

"That's cynical."

"If you haven't noticed I'm a pretty damned cynical person," he said as Vi finished, "Now let's get the fighting bit over with."

Getting to her feet Vi stretched out her arms before doing a flip so that she was behind him. He turned around quickly and deflected her kick. Then he inhaled his cigarette. It infuriated her that he could fight her **and **continue smoking.

"By the way," he asked, dodging another kick, "Where's the other one?"

"Grounded," Vi replied.

He raised his eyebrow as he caught her foot in his hand.

"…and she couldn't sneak out because?"

"Her mother installed alarms and nailed the window shut-" started Vi before she was turned upside down.

Swiftly she did a flip so that she managed to balance unsteadily on her feet.

"Sounds like your friend has some shit going on with her mother," he said.

"Maybe," she said carefully, "Who doesn't?"

"You for one."

Vi paused. She wasn't about to be lured into revealing something compromising, and she sure as hell wasn't going to be distracted.

"What makes you say that?" she said.

"The 'Who doesn't?'," he said, "You said it in a way that you figured it was a general term but not one that necessarily applied to you."

She shrugged, which she realized in and of itself was a dead giveaway. He smirked.

"I take it there's a little something wrong though," he said, "You don't necessarily have beef, but something."

"What, is psycho-analyzing part of the program now?" Vi said, throwing a punch.

He caught this one as well before sending her flying back.

"Gotcha," he laughed.

Irritated Vi leaned up against a wall and folded her arms against her chest.

"Okay bastard, you got me. You want to know any of this…why?"

He shrugged.

"Probably to find out why you're doing this voluntarily."

"We don't need a reason," she answered, using the dustbins as a support to try to launch a more powerful kick at him.

"Like hell you don't," he snorted, dodging, "There's always a reason. Your friend's fighting with her mother so she's looking for a way to improve the world around her since she can't improve her own. You…I'm still trying to figure that one out."

She paused, something she knew not to do while fighting someone who had once been one of the most feared superheroes in the world. However, she did it anyways and he got a kick in that sent her flying towards the wall again. Angrily she swore before sighing.

"…my Dad died before I was born," she said, "So my mother was a single teenage mom. She raised me by herself, fighting to make sure we had enough and I didn't have to go into an orphanage or foster home or some shit like that."

For a minute he looked at her. She couldn't quite see his eyes behind the sunglasses, but she figured they were questing.

"Sure it's safe to tell me that?" he said after awhile.

"There's a shitload of single mothers in Dayton," said Vi in a slightly condescending tone, "And you already know I live here if you know anything at all."

"Point taken."

"She's not happy," Vi continued, "I know she loves me more than anything, but I think she still misses my Dad. I know it was years ago that he died, but…yeah. I can help her pay the bills and clean the house but I can't help with that. I'm not even sure I fully understand it. I mean…she was so young and then…still loving someone? Sometimes I think she'd be happier if she just moved on and found a new guy. I'm not a romantic or anything so…anyway, off topic."

She launched herself past him, her hair flowing behind her. Kraken didn't take the bait. He'd learned far too well what happened to people who grabbed her hair from what she'd done to Séance. Vi thought it was pretty useful in that respect as a lure, unless you already knew that she didn't care if it hurt like hell or not when pulled.

"I always thought that was a sloppy way to run the world," she said, latching onto the fire escape again, "It was just so damned unfair. Then Torpere gets this idea about making the world a better place, starting with Dayton. Superheroes always seemed so in control to me. Yeah, I know about the shit with the Academy-"

"It was before your time," Kraken said distantly.

"Yeah, your generation had all the fun. But you guys still made a difference. I admire that. I'd always wanted to be able to do that. She gave me the trigger. Does that satisfy you?"

To her surprise she saw him staring off into space. The cigarette was dangling limply from his fingers. As she watched ashes fell slowly down onto the pavement.

"When you love someone, no…not just love…**need**," he said, "You always need them. It doesn't stop with time. It never stops. Finding someone else is worse than just being alone, because it would make the gap in your life even bigger since the person you're with's not them."

She blinked at him.

"You're saying it like it's from personal experience."

He looked at her as though noticing her for the first time. Then he flicked the cigarette towards the wall irritably.

"Don't ask questions."

"Well excuse me," she said, "You practically gave me an invitation. Was it Vanya?"

"What?" he snapped.

Jumping down from the fire escape Vi managed to catch him in the jaw with her foot. He staggered back and she pressed her advantage with another few well rounded-kicks. Finally he caught her ankle and sent her spinning to the ground.

"Nice trick," he snarled.

"Well," Vi said, pulling herself into a sitting position, "Was it?"

Right then Vi knew she was not only putting her foot in her mouth, but she was playing with fire. Here she was, pushing the most dangerous member of the Umbrella Academy to talk about things he didn't want to. None the less, for some indefinable reason, she pressed on.

"The person you were talking about," she said, "The girl with the car crash and the needing…well…you left real soon after she died. Just a thought."

He looked at her.

"Who the hell are you?"

Vi looked at him, confused.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're stronger than most people and too observant for your own damned good," he growled, ignoring the question, "I suggest you curb the second of the two when it comes to me."

He turned around.

"You're leaving?"

"Session's over for tonight," he snapped, "Do a few things, but nothing too big. You're only running at half power without Torpere."

He walked away. As soon as he was gone she grinned. Definitely how she'd imagined him.


	21. Chapter 21

March 21, 1986

Kraken waded through the waist high grass. He moved stealthily, but he knew he didn't need to. The simple fact of the matter was that no one ever came up here. They hadn't in years, which explained the tall grass and the lack of a path anywhere in sight. The tree that overhung the small clearing was near dead, even though it did manage to produce leaves every year. It also shed them frequently which turned the ground to a rather slippery mulch, making the whole place feel even more like a crypt. If, of course, that was possible.

He shook his head once, as if to attempt to clear it. The Nix's questions from earlier had hit uncomfortably close to home for him. While he gave both girls a grudging admiration, that girl was something else. For some reason he felt fairly well disposed towards her. However, she really was too observant.

Her words from earlier were still with him. They were making him think things, things he didn't like thinking. Those thoughts in turn were making him feel things, again, things he didn't like feeling. And, when he was feeling like this, there was only one real place he could go, a place he wasn't quite sure whether he hated or loved.

Vanya and he hadn't been together very long before she died in the accident. He wished that they'd had years, but in truth all they'd had was the Summer and Christmas vacation before the accident. Even then they'd only had stolen moments that were hidden from everyone else. Back then he'd thought it was enough. Now he knew that it wasn't anywhere near that.

Kraken couldn't place the date when it had started. He knew that he should've been able too, but he couldn't. One night they'd just been sitting together and something had made him lean in. When their lips met he hadn't been shocked to feel her respond. It was like he'd known all along that she'd felt something similar.

Not particularly romantic, he knew that much. As he travelled through the grass he thought about that. No, it hadn't been romantic. Nor had it been perfect. With his temper and her sarcasm they'd gotten into many fights. Now he regretted each one of them. Coulda, woulda, shoulda. It didn't amount to anything now. What it had been was…good. Strangely enough they'd gone from being friends one day to him feeling like she was his world the next. Then he'd gone from feeling nervous about the situation to knowing exactly how she felt the next.

That was at least some cold comfort, the fact that their relationship had by no means been in infancy at the time she'd died. It was good to know that once together, they'd never wasted a minute. However, many things had been left unsaid when she'd been taken. At least he'd told her he loved her. His memory tended to go a little fuzzy around the edges, but he knew he'd told her that. Kraken also knew that she'd said it back. It was something that was good to remember at two a.m when you were going through your third or fourth bottle of whisky.

With that thought he shoved his way angrily past a rather large clump of grass.

"_Run away with me."_

_Vanya turned around to face him, the sheets rustling slightly._

"_Now you're joking," she said. _

"_I'm serious," he protested, sitting up, "Let's just get on my Harley and get the fuck out of here."_

"_Diego," Vanya sighed, "You…you're saving people…you belong here…"_

"_No I don't."_

"_We both know you do. Remember last time we tried to run away?"_

"…_yes. So maybe I belong being a 'superhero'," he admitted grudgingly, "But not here. Let's just get away from this. Just the two of us."_

"_And do what?" she asked, blinking back tears and rolling on her side, facing away from him, "You probably don't do domestic. I can't imagine you in a 9 to 5 job and then coming home for dinner with your kids."_

_He paused. He couldn't really either. Even so he placed a hand on her shoulder, feeling the smoothness of her skin against his calloused hand. After thinking for a moment he leaned over so that he could whisper;_

"_If that's what you want then I'd give it to you. Anything I can. You're the best damn thing that's ever happened to me."_

"_You say that now but in a couple of years everything will be different-" she started. _

_Shaking his head he'd picked up her hand and placed it on his bare chest._

"_Do you feel a heartbeat?" he'd asked casually, "Probably not, because I'm literally heartless."_

_She'd opened her mouth to protest but he silenced her by tracing her lips with his free hand._

"_Do you wanna know why that is? It's 'cause you took it a long time ago when I wasn't even looking. By the time I realized you had it I couldn't get it back. And do you know what? __**I don't want it back. **__Keep it for as long as you want it, because I'm sure as hell never going to try and take it."_

_She'd smiled then and moved her hand up to his cheek._

"_Alright, you win."_

As the memory washed over him he closed his eyes. Sometimes, if he concentrated very hard, he could conjure up images of how her skin felt, even how it smelled. Mostly it was just the lotion she was wearing or something, but when it was just her…sometimes he'd thought she'd smelt of lilies. Occasionally it would be interspersed with redwood from her violin, but only occasionally.

Or was it orchids that she'd smelled like? He opened his eyes and once again cursed his memory for letting go of this vital detail. Briefly Kraken wondered if he was losing his mind as he continued through the grass. He did that a lot. Going crazy would certainly be much better than the alternative; that he was forgetting her. However, he knew he couldn't forget her. She'd stamped herself on him in a way that he couldn't describe.

Kraken had never actually been happy with Vanya. No, happiness seemed superficial to him at best and a lie at worse. What he'd had with Vanya had run much deeper than happiness. It was like when he was with her he'd entered the eye of the storm while villains, siblings, Hargreeves, and other shit had raged all around him. Yet, with her, they'd all been rendered meaningless. Try though they might, they couldn't penetrate that eye. It was like it was a vacuum, keeping the two of them in but everything else out.

Ah yes. Now he had a word to put to it; peace. She'd given him peace in a way that he had never really known before. With only a few minutes, metal, and speed, that peace had been forever ripped away from him, taking part of his heart and soul with it. There had been nothing left in its place until the day of her funeral where he fought his first battle in a long war.

It wasn't as though he could quite blame them for her death. It had been a car accident. The fact, though, that they didn't care and had made her life miserable pissed him off. All it had taken was an inopportune incident and the place where the peace had been kept was filled with rage, with chaos, with, hah, **Havoc.**

After that he'd run away and struck up a deal with Lupo. Now he continued saving people as he always had, as Vanya had said, but by himself. Leaving had crippled the Academy, and he knew it. At the same time though, he still felt the urge to hurt them like he'd been hurting for nearly twenty years. He still felt a vendetta, not so much for himself, but for her.

After struggling in the grass for a few more minutes he finally found where he was going. It was fairly easy to find, just far away. After all, it was the only place in the entire damn field where the grass was evenly trimmed and the weeds were taken out. He knew this because he'd done it out himself.

Almost reverently he picked up the dead roses from his last visit and threw them in the grass. Then he gently placed the roses he'd brought onto the grave. Crouching down he let his hand run over the stone writing.

Vanya Hargreeves

1950-1968

When she passed, so did the music.


	22. Chapter 22

March 21, 1986

For a moment longer Kraken stared at her grave. Then he sighed and lit a cigarette.

"It's been awhile," he said quietly as he exhaled, "And, sad to say, not much's changed."

His words were said as if to the air. There was no answer. There never had been, in all the years he'd come he'd never even heard a whisper. Yet, he'd never really expected it. He was a realist, perhaps terribly so. Sometimes he wished he could hope for a reply, or even for a feeling. However, he never did and there never was.

"I'm on a case," he said conversationally, "And I'd think you'd think it was pretty ironic. It feels fucked up to say this…because they're just about everything I've tried to fight…but I'm on these girls' side, if they have a side. Maybe because it's their choice or some shit like that. I'm even telling them how to fucking **improve.** Yeah, I know. You probably haven't laughed this hard since I took up Lupo's offer."

He paused and wrapped his coat tighter around him. It was getting cold. Irritably he reached under his sunglasses and took off his eye patch. Damn thing always got itchy when it was cold.

"It actually feels kinda shitty," he said as he pocketed it, "Looks like I can't stay on the same course for very long. Not that I was ever very reputable. But you know that."

There was an odd silence. He took another breath of the cigarette.

"I'm sorry I never gave you flowers while you were alive," he said absently, "You'd think I would've…but I didn't. I'm sorry about that. But…then again…I say that every time I come up here, don't I?"

Bowing his head he murmured;

"God I miss you…just like always. I can't help but wish…"

Suddenly he stiffened. Clenching his fist he hissed between his teeth;

"Get your fat monkey-ass out here right now before I kick it back to the moon. And the rest of you piss-poor excuses for human beings, get the fuck out here too."

Spaceboy walked into the clearing, almost casually. Following him were a rather bemused Séance and a rather nervous Horror. Horror had always been nervous. Yet, if they said even one wrong word his fear would be more than justified.

"How long have you been there?" Kraken hissed.

"Is that the first thing you say to me after all these years?" asked Space.

"Answer the damned question."

"Only a minute," Space said, "Not much longer."

"Why do I get the feeling you're lying?"

"Probably because you were always highly paranoid," Space said coldly.

There was a slight pause as Kraken struggled for words. If Space had been standing in front of him instead of behind, he might've seen the livid expression on his face.

"How long have you known? About me coming here?"

"I'm not stupid," said Space, "We do come up here."

"We?" asked Kraken, "I'll bet you just mean Ben by that."

Horror had the decency to look away. Séance shrugged.

"I'm **always **around dead people," he said.

Séance was always too high to be tactful or to feel embarrassment. At least when he was younger he'd been acutely sensitive and aware of other's feelings. Space, on the other hand, had never seemed to have any sense of shame.

"We've known for a couple of years," continued Space, "Don't think we don't pay our respects, and you always did leave roses."

Kraken laughed bitterly.

"Once again, I don't see much evidence of any sort of respect," he said, gesturing to the high grass.

"I thought you'd come here tonight," Space said, ignoring Kraken's comment, "It's been awhile since your last visit Kraken."

Kraken got up and turned around.

"Or do you go by something different?" Space asked.

"It's not gonna be that easy spaceman," snapped Kraken, "Oh, and don't get any smart ideas of trying to get me to come back to the Academy."

"Wouldn't dream of it," replied Space, "Unlike Hargreeves I see that forcing you back on the team would be rather destructive. I think he still thinks you skipped town…but I always figured you'd stay."

Angrily Kraken gestured to the grave.

"Do you think I'd leave her here with **YOU**?" he snarled.

Involuntarily Space took a step backwards.

"No," Space said, regaining his composure, "Because you were together, weren't you?"

For a moment Kraken was nonplussed. Horror's eyes widened.

"When did you…?"

"The day of the funeral," said Space, "when you found out that Hargreeves had already had her buried."

Lowering his voice Kraken whispered;

"Was it too much to ask to see her again? Was it?"

Ignoring the question Space folded his arms and looked at the grave.

"Losing someone you care about can be difficult."

Almost immediately Kraken's stance and expression changed.

"Shut up," he said, narrowing his eyes, "You don't know about that. You never would."

"Now wait a minute-"

"Because while I gathered the courage to pursue the woman I loved you just sat on your ass and watched Allison get married and have another man's child," Kraken growled.

In the background Horror winced. It was a low blow, and Kraken knew it. However, he was hurting and he wanted them to hurt as well.

"Don't bring her up," said Space, his voice low and his eyes closed.

"Why, still sore from your inactions? I reiterate; You. Have. No. Fucking. Idea," sneered Kraken, "No idea how I felt when I heard about it…no idea. Now go the fuck away and leave me the fuck alone."

"Listen," Space said, "we're not talking about me or you or anything that happened all those years ago. Right now there are two minors out on the streets thinking they're fighting crime. They're going to get themselves killed."

"Especially when you sprain their wrist," said Kraken.

"How do you know-?"

"I know things," Kraken said dismissively, "And you fucked up with them and you want me to help. That's probably the gist of it, right?"

"Basically, yes."

"Tough luck," Kraken said, "Because I'm through with you bastards."

"Consider-"

"No!" Kraken erupted, "I won't consider a damned thing from any of you! So fuck off!"

Space's stoic face slipped.

"Don't think I don't know about all the times you helped the police solve something before us," he snapped, "Or about all the times you told the press those things or started the rumors or cut our phone lines. You're sabotaging us over a dead girl Kraken!"

Very slowly Kraken clenched and unclenched his fists.

"Worse wars have been fought for less," he growled.

"You'll let two teens get killed to satisfy your sick need for revenge?!" Space snapped.

"Oh, I'm not willing to let someone who's **not** in the **Academy** die," Kraken hissed back, "But believe me when I say I'll see the damn place burn to the ground. And about these girls, I'll make sure they don't get killed. Because, do you know what? I'm pulling for them. If nothing else they've got a shitload of fire and guts."

"Guys-" Horror interjected.

"Shut the fuck up Ben!" Kraken snarled, "You weren't the brightest, and neither was Klaus, but the fact that you're still here shows just how stupid you really are. This place is poison. Tell me, have you ever tried leaving?"

Horror's face was an agony of uncertainty.

"Of course not," laughed Kraken bitterly, "Because you're all in one piece."

"Kraken," Space said, his voice low.

"What are you talking about?" asked Horror.

"Still so stupid," Kraken said, "Do you know what happens when you try to leave the Academy? Do you?"

Without giving Ben time to answer Kraken snapped off his glasses. Even Séance flinched away as the jagged scar was revealed over his now white and dead eye. Space glared at him.

"That was an accident."

"No," snapped Kraken, "That was 'Dad' and Abhijat trying to stop me leaving. You know. You were there. I don't forgive and I'm sure as hell never forgetting."

There was a pause where just the two of them glared at each other. Finally Kraken replaced his sunglasses and flicked his cigarette at Space's feet.

"Coming up here to catch me tonight was a dirty trick," he said, "Don't do it again asshole."

Without another word Kraken turned around and stormed off. Once he was safely in the distance Horror let out the breath he'd been holding.

"Wow, you totally screwed that up," Séance cackled.

Rolling his eyes Space looked at his brother.

"It would help if you would do your job and get Vanya to talk to you-"

"Like I've said before," Séance said, "She's being damned quiet. Don't think she wants to talk to me. Can't imagine why though. I only ever stole her make-up once."

"Maybe she doesn't want to be used again," said Horror quietly.

Space shot him a glare.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that."

Not expecting an answer Space took one last, thoughtful look at Vanya's grave before heading back up to the manor. Horror stayed for awhile longer before following, shaking his head the whole time.


	23. Chapter 23

_**A/N: **__Sorry about the late updates. Exam week._

March 22, 1986

The city's skyline was impressive. However, the same could not be said for Dayton's. If a person were trying to be polite they may say that it was just a suburb, so a skyline wouldn't be necessary. However, there was one building that stood out slightly from all the others, making an odd dent in the otherwise flat horizon.

It was an old Victorian building, practically crumbling from the stress of the many ages. Graffiti was its wall paint and trash was its flowers. Several notices labeling it condemned served as its fence, and a rather sturdy one at that. It had been papered over with them so many times that it was practically paper mached.

Other signs listed the many reasons why trespassing was a very bad idea. The first was a five hundred dollar fine. In Dayton, that was equivalent to a small fortune. Less important reasons included the crumbling masonry and unstable foundation. All in all it was a house that was not to be messed with, threatening almost certain messy death to anyone guilty of the slightest trespass.

It was for those reasons that Jormungand liked it. Then again, there were also the oh so useful tunnels that ran underneath the entire complex, just right for smuggling and hiding items. Those Victorians. He gave a wry chuckle before taking a sip of whiskey from his glass. Stretching out in his recliner he sighed slightly to himself in comfort.

He was, as he thought of himself, a self-made man. Certainly he had started out as being just another urchin in Dayton. He'd left his roots and names behind though to become the top dog in a world of hungry Rottweilers. Jormungand had had, he would have to admit, certain advantages. However, he had quickly climbed the ladder in their world into a position of ease.

The Umbrella Academy had promised him opposition from the day he was born. He would have had to have been an idiot not to have seen that. Still, no man was incorruptible and Hargreeves wasn't even a man. So he had struck a deal. Hargreeves would keep the police and the Academy out of Dayton, and in return Jormungand would stay in Dayton. He would also cease his…curiosity about the members.

That concession had been particularly hard for him. Being one of the forty-three, he'd always wondered what the others were like. When he got older though, he was more interested in what their powers were. His own had required exhausting research to develop, and they'd been even more difficult to utilize.

From the day he was born he'd been a thief. He'd picked pockets, then moved on to cash registers and finally a whole neighborhood. Apparently it went beyond that though. When he first found out that he could actually steal powers of the other forty-three, he'd felt like he'd won the jackpot. It was like being special, but being able to become more special as time went on. Naturally he'd been eager to get his hands on some of the Academy.

However, there was that agreement. He could always just break it, but at the same time he couldn't. First of all Hargreeves probably expected to be betrayed. He couldn't even imagine what provisions that slippery son of a bitch had made. The second was that Jormungand was, in an odd sense of the term, a man of his word. There was a code that existed for him, even if it did consist of killing most people that he didn't like.

So he'd waited, even though he'd burned with curiosity, especially about the seventh ones power. After capturing a few of the forty-three himself and running several experiments, he was able to recognize her as having a sleeper gene. Most likely it would produce some sort of power under extreme stimuli. That was how he'd gotten many of the other ones to show their power so he could take it.

For instance, if a crate was hurtling at a person who was hiding telekinesis, then they'd use it. It wasn't anything particularly scientific. However, Jormungand had found that people who are alive tend to want to stay that way. So the survival instinct just kicked in and the body would do whatever it was capable of. He'd been dying to figure out just what that one was capable of.

She'd died in a car crash though, leaving him unable to do what he wanted to so dearly. Disappointed he'd watched as much of the Academy disappeared. He'd kept hoping that Spaceboy would leave so the agreement would no longer apply to him and he could have that wonderful power. Space had stayed loyal though, much to his chagrin. How could he get anything done when people kept getting in his way?

Still though, he'd done pretty well. Profits were still coming in. He'd started to expand his coils to surrounding cities. Now he was in charge of most of the west coast. Jormungand had also started heading towards New York City and had managed to get a few neighborhoods under his command.

There was, however, one rather large thorn in his side. Turning his head he took in the wall which he'd dedicated to 'The Interlopers' as he called him. The wall started with the picture from the newspaper. After that there were clippings of stores that should've been robbed and henchmen beat-up. There were dates and notes on them too. So far though, they'd gotten him absolutely nowhere.

Although he was gritting his teeth a low hiss of frustration escaped. How dare they challenge what he had? How dare they challenge him here, in his own neighborhood! It was like finding an armed man in your own backyard. Not only were they trying to take what was his, they were also insulting him.

Hargreeves was useless. The Academy had failed to catch these new upstarts. They were only teenagers for fuck sake! For some reason Hargreeves had also failed to stop the police. Now there were cops down there looking for the girls. Not only were they not finding them, but they were also arresting his men. Once again, how could he get anything done when people kept getting in his way?

Everyone appeared to be bad at their jobs. Not even his own men could get them, especially with the police breathing down their necks. He considered reminding Hargreeves about their agreement. Couldn't he just bribe someone to take some funds away from Lupo's bloodhounds so they'd have to cut more jobs? That was what Hargreeves had always done in the past.

It seemed, however, that the past was past. Perhaps Hargreeves had gone against his word and put superheroes down in his turf. Yes, the Nix and Torpere always did say to his men that they were not with the Academy. However, that might just be there to allay his suspicions. For the time being he would consider them part of it. Even if they weren't, it appeared that he would get no help from Hargreeves.

Also, that girl, that Torpere, had the power of electricity. It puzzled him that she had it. She was far too young to be one of the forty-three. Perhaps she was the child of one of them though. It didn't really matter. She had a power and he wanted it. And what Jormungand wanted, he would have and rip the world apart to do so.

Restlessly he got up. He'd have to pull in all of his eyes and ears on the street. He'd just watch them, order no crimes above average, just watch them. He'd have them all watch for a weakness or a time of difficulty for the bitches. He'd have men mobilized 24/7, a nice incentive to figure out the opportune time.

The time would come. He found that if he waited it always did. And when the time showed itself, then he'd send his men in. After that…well…things would go his way, as they always did. Jormungand walked out onto the balcony of the building and staring out at his Dayton. Chuckling to himself he took a long drink of whiskey.


	24. Chapter 24

March 22, 1986

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Rumor said irritably as she walked to the front door.

She unlocked two of the three locks before opening the door partially.

"Hell-" she started before stopping abruptly.

Horror shifted from one foot to another, looking embarrassed. Briefly Rumor counted her blessings that at least he'd forgone the uniform and that Claire was still at school.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, surprised at how steady her voice sounded.

He gave an uncertain smile.

"Um…you don't have to talk to me if you don't want to," he said, "But it's been awhile since I last saw you-"

"Try fifteen years," Rumor said levelly.

"Oh, really?" his face fell.

Seeing his lips move she sighed. Math never was his best subject.

"So, um, sorry about that. It's just you said you wanted to be left alone…and…and," he said, shifting his feet again and looking at the ground, "…but you probably didn't mean for quite that long. Um, so-"

"Look, Ben, you don't know what's going on in my life right now," she sighed, "so you don't know why this is the last thing I need. But that's not your fault because, yes, I did want to be left alone for this long."

Horror nodded, as though this is what he'd secretly thought. Good, at least she was getting somewhere.

"Either way," she said, starting to close the door, "I really don't feel like playing catch up right now-"

"I saw Diego," Horror said abruptly.

Rumor stopped the door in mid-shut.

"When?"

"Last night."

For a minute she paused, debating with herself.

"You'd better come in," she said finally.

Unlocking the last lock she opened the door the whole way and Horror slid inside. She relocked it behind him and gestured to the sofa.

"Have a seat."

"Um, thanks."

"You want coffee or anything?" she asked, "I was making some when you came in."

"Uh, sure."

She walked back to the kitchen and poured two mugs full.

"Still take it with cream and sugar?"

"Yeah."

Rumor added the ingredients to his, but kept hers black. She walked back in and handed him a mug. Then she sat down next to him. She sipped hers as she searched for words.

"So…he's still alive?" she asked, "I thought he would've gotten himself killed ages ago."

"He was always pretty tough," said Horror quietly, "I'm not sure what he's doing now, but he looked okay."

Digesting this information she leaned back.

"Seeing as he would probably rather die than rejoin the Academy, you saw him how?"

"He…Luther thought…" the excuses died on Horror's lips, "He was visiting Vanya's grave."

She choked slightly on her coffee before managing to swallow it.

"You cornered him **there**?" asked Rumor, aghast.

"I didn't want to," Horror said miserably.

"I can imagine him being super-pissed about that," she said.

"He was."

"Hm."

"He, uh, he said some things," Horror said hesitantly, looking at his coffee, "Things about, well…lots of stuff. But, there was something he said, and I saw, about when he tried to leave. He lost an eye Allison."

That was new, but not completely surprising. Rumor rubbed her temples.

"Hargreeves or Luther?"

"What?"

"Which one did it?" asked Rumor impatiently.

"Uh…Hargreeves…"

"Thought so. Even though Luther hates him I doubt he'd do that deliberately, something about nobility. He's funny about things like that."

There was silence.

"You don't seem very surprised," he said, looking at her oddly.

"Same thing would've happened to me if I wasn't engaged and pregnant," she said, "With me it would've attracted too much attention if I needed to claw my way out or if I had exit wounds. But Diego…he was always a recluse and…well, Hargreeves is a bastard who doesn't like things not going according to plan. Anything else?"

Still looking at her strangely Horror said;

"He and Vanya-"

"-were fucking each other, yeah," she said.

Horror looked at her, shocked. She laughed at his expression.

"I was in the room right next to him," she said, "And the walls are a lot thinner than you'd think. Try sleeping when you're hearing **that **all night."

"But…but…" sputtered Horror, "Wouldn't Luther have-"

"Yeah, Luther's room was on the other side of Diego's. But most nights he slept downstairs near televator in case of _emergencies_," she said.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I might've needed to use it as blackmail later," she said, "And don't look so surprised; I was sneaking out a lot. I needed as much dirt as I could get. Any security at all."

"Huh…so was it just about…?" said Horror, his question up in the air.

Taking a sip of her coffee she thought for awhile. The one time she'd actually seen them it had been at two a.m. Vanya had been going back to her room, and Rumor had been trying to discreetly come back in through the window from one of her late night ventures. She'd stopped short when she saw them and managed to stay hidden.

From where she was she hadn't been able to hear a word of what had been said. Her power was lying, not super-hearing. However, she had seen him put his hand on her face. It had been an oddly gentle gesture, as though he was afraid of breaking her face. Vanya had always been very frail and delicate, and Kraken was strong so it made sense in an odd way. Kraken though, was not a gentle person.

Once she'd seen that she'd stepped out of her hiding place a little. Curiosity had overcome caution. When she had, she had been able to see the absolute loving look she'd been giving him. It had made her envious that someone else had a relationship like that when she knew she wasn't loved.

However, his look was different. There had been love there but there had also been something else…

"I don't think it was just about that," she said, "I think he was…obsessed with her. There was love but it was kind of like obsession too. I doubt he could love normally though, him being like that. As for Vanya, well, she was the most normal out of all of us. So yes, I think she loved him and managed to do it the right way too."

"Is there a right way?" asked Horror.

"Most likely."

There was a long pause. Suddenly Rumor felt old and worn. It was as though she was feeling all of her years compounding on her.

"Look, Ben," said Rumor tiredly, "Why are you here? I mean, it's not like I need to know this or anything. More time's passed since Diego disappeared and Vanya died than when I last talked to you for fuck sake."

He turned away and stared into the depths of his coffee mug. Still not facing her he said;

"I'm thinking about leaving."

She didn't say anything. Taking this as encouragement, Horror continued.

"Even if I do have to lose an eye then I'm getting out. I'm tired Allison. I'm tired and I'm scared. As for why I came to you, you're the only one I can talk to about this without them blowing up at me or saying something in response that doesn't make sense. Not to mention you made it out."

He turned back to her, but now it was her turn to look away.

"I never made it out Ben," she said, "I never managed to be normal. You don't know since…well…I found out a few months ago my husband was fucking some bimbo and now I'm divorced. My daughter hates me, we hardly speak anymore. There's nothing I can do to make her see things differently. I ruined things because I was too scared to move, to do anything. Now she wants nothing more to do with me. I even…I even…"

Trailing off miserably she looked back to see Horror's questing look.

"I think I'm losing my power," she said, "I haven't used it in so long, and when I tried to a few months ago the words got caught in my throat. I was so surprised but…anyway; I used it a little over a week ago on something small. It was so difficult. So I'm not normal and I'm not special. I'm just a freak Ben."

Neither of them said anything for awhile. After some time Horror said;

"Better a freak than a Hargreeves."

And Rumor nodded, choking back tears.

"Thanks for listening to me," he said quietly.

"Any time," she said, "We all need someone to talk to."


	25. Chapter 25

March 29, 1986

"If you don't mind me saying so Claire, you don't look like shit tonight," said Vi.

Claire snorted as she finished tying up the last robber. It was her first night back on the job, and she should feel happy. Yet, there was too much going on, too much that had happened that day.

"I don't feel so great either," she said, tying the knots so tight that the robber groaned even in his state of unconsciousness.

She picked up the man before throwing him in the trashcan. All the while she felt Vi's inquisitive look on her back.

"Do you feel like talking about it?" she asked.

"No, but I probably should," answered Claire bitterly as they started to walk away.

Sighing deeply she said;

"Today…my Dad…well…"

"What's the old bastard done now?" Vi asked her eyes narrowing.

Claire gave a harsh laugh. Ever since the night at the waterslide Vi had referred to her father as the old bastard. It was, in many ways, a suitable term.

"He's invited me to his wedding," she said.

There was a long and very pregnant pause. Finally Vi said in disgust;

"He's marrying that whore?"

"Exactly. I met her last time I went over you know," Claire replied, "An experience which, despite 'daddy's' oh so subtle hints that it should, did not endear me to her in any way shape or form."

"It was that kind of situation then?" Vi asked, "Now, and you can tell me this, on a scale of one to ten, how slutty was she?"

"Twelve."

"Oh."

"For one thing," Claire said, "she's blonde. Not good blonde like you, bottle blonde."

"Girls like that profane my hair color," sniffed Vi.

"Her clothes are completely slutty."

"That goes without saying. She was balling an older man."

"Lastly, and most importantly, she's only five years older than me."

"Bastard."

"It's just, I always kinda knew he was a jerk, but come on here!" Claire said, "You'd think he'd have some sense of decorum left. It's just…she's just…he's acting just…just…JUST!"

Vi looked at her.

"I thought you said you didn't give a damn about what either of your parents do," she said carefully.

"I don't!" exclaimed Claire, "They can go to hell for all I care! But they're still the ones who brought my whole sense of stability crashing down. Oh, it was bound to happen sooner or later, but **he** was the one who went and catalyzed the whole damn process! And for what? A girl who's nearly the same age as his own damn daughter!? So that he can have his little mid-life crises and act like a total jerk!? Seriously?"

There was another pregnant pause as they went down the street.

"Men," ventured Vi derisively.

"He thinks he can fix it too!" Claire snapped to the air, "He hit me and then he thinks he can just go about like it never happens. He wants to use me to get back at my mom. At least **she **knows she can't fix it, or maybe she's just biding her time. Either way he thinks he can use me when he wants too. I'm sick of him, I'm sick of her, and I'm sick of their damn machinations! Why can't they just look at me like a daughter instead of a way to get back at each other or something that's just there?"

Putting her head into her gloved hand Claire massaged her temples.

"Just when I think they can't get any worse they…oh, never mind. Sorry for unloading. Thanks for listening anyway."

"It's not a problem," Vi said.

"I feel like all I'm doing is unloading on you," said Claire, "Just whining and whining. I mean, you've never talked to me about your home-life or anything and I'm getting the feeling that it's because I never leave you any time to talk about it."

"That's not it," frowned Vi, "I mean, mom and I do fight sometimes, but it's not like yours. I suppose there's not much to complain about except that I worry she's overworking herself and she's trying too hard for me, and that's not something you can vent about."

"You can talk about it though."

"Yeah, well," Vi said, "I don't really have problems like that and there's nothing I really want to understand about my parents, like I understand them but **understand** understand."

"Them?"

Vi bit her lip.

"It sounds so damned cliché, but I've always kinda wondered about my father," she said, "My mom's only now starting to tell me little bits and pieces but I wanna know more. I don't want to press her though because she's still upset about it. Really musta loved him. But still…"

"It's your right to know about your father though," said Claire, puzzled.

"Yeah, but I don't want to hurt her. The last thing she needs is painful memories resurfacing," Vi said.

Sighing Claire shook her head.

"Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?"

"I didn't think it was important."

"That sounds pretty fucking important to me," Claire said.

"Just…'ya know."

"I am a terrible friend," sighed Claire, "I just yacked and yacked and never really paid attention and-"

"You're not a terrible friend," Vi said, rolling her eyes, "Believe me, I would've said something before now if you were. I like that you tell me this shit so don't stop just because you think you might be interrupting **me**. I'm the mouthy one, remember?"

"Well…thanks," Claire said.

There was a slight silence before Vi got a wicked look in her eye.

"What are you going to-?" started Claire.

"Keep smiling, keep shining!" sang Vi, very off-pitch, "Knowing you can always count on me, for suuuuuuuuuure! THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOOOOOOOOOOR!"

The loud singing made Claire take an involuntary step backwards.

"You'll wake up the whole damn county!" she hissed, covering her ears.

"They'll probably just think it's drunks," shrugged Vi, "Besides, it's fun."

"Never pegged you for an Elton John fan."

"Other people are singing," frowned Vi, "Now come on, join with me!"

"No way in hell!"

"Have it your way," pouted Vi.

Before Claire could stop her, Vi continued on.

"For good times, and bad times! I'll be on your side forever moooooooooore! That's what friends are foooooooooooooooooor!"

Claire looked at her friend in mute amazement.

"Well you came in loving me!" she said, swaying from side to side with an odd swagger, "And now there's so much more I see. And so by the way I thank you! Oh and then for when we're apart, well then close your eyes and know, the words are coming from my heart. And then if you can remember-"

Throwing caution to the wind Claire joined in with;

"THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR!"

Once the note was completed Vi turned to her and smiled.

"Knew you'd join in."

"Only thing that gets me is how you were able to sing that with a straight face **and **keep up a swagger like that," Claire grinned.

"I don't swagger!" protested Vi.

"Yes you do, you do it all the time-" Claire shot back.

"Keep smiling, keep shining, oh, they stopped singing."

Feeling her blood run cold she turned around slowly. There, at the other end of the tunnel like a bad dream, were her uncles.

"Everyone always stops singing before I come," Séance said grumpily.


	26. Chapter 26

March 29, 1986

There was a very deep silence as the two groups of superheroes stared at each other. It was Vi who summed up the thoughts of the Dayton girls.

"Shit."

"That's right," Space said, "We've been looking for you two for a very long time. Now if you would kindly come with us-"

"No chance in hell," Claire snapped.

"Yeah, you bastards twisted my wrist! Do you have any idea how much that hurts?!" Vi said, glaring at Horror, "I couldn't pick up a spoon for two fuckin' weeks! Do you have any idea how inconvenient that is to someone who eats as much cereal as me?"

Claire was surprised to see Horror look away, almost as if he was ashamed. She filed this reaction away for future reference.

"That was only because you resisted," said Space tersely, "Nothing would've happened if you'd just cooperated."

"I'll believe that when you learn to stop being such a monkey-ass," replied Vi.

She saw his eyebrow twitch and Vi grinned in satisfaction. Claire, however, understood that this was going to get very ugly very fast.

"Look," she said in an attempt to avoid another repeat of the water works, "It's late and I'm sure we're all very tired and in absolutely no shape to be getting in a fight, but if you guys make an appointment then maybe we can-"

"Nice try," snapped Space, "You got lucky last time. It won't happen again."

She sighed.

"So, it's the three of you seasoned fighters against two teenage girls," she said.

Once more she noted a flicker of shame come across Horror's face. However, she also noted a slight shadow come onto Space's. She looked at Séance, but she shouldn't have bothered. He was just cleaning his nails.

"We're not here to talk about numbers," Space said, "As you can see we're in a confined area and there's no real outlet for your powers this time Torpere. And, like I said, you did get lucky last time."

Claire tried to look as though she was trying to figure something out.

"Alright," Claire asked, "Is the offer still open?"

"What?" asked Space.

"What?" Horror asked.

"What the fuckin' hell?" asked Vi.

"Just answer the question," said Claire irritably.

"Um, I suppose so," Space replied, looking at her uncertainly.

"Fine then," she said.

"Tor, what the fuckin' hell?" hissed Vi.

"Can you give me a minute with my partner?" she asked, shooting a glare at Vi.

"Yes, alright then," said Spaceboy, still looking nonplussed.

Nodding agreeably she dragged Vi out of earshot.

"Have you lost your fuckin' mind here?" snapped Vi.

"No. When I give the word we run like hell over that wall over there and try to lose them in the junkyard," she said, "Got it?"

There was a brief moment when Vi stared at her.

"Do you really think I want to hang out with any **more **of my uncles?" asked Claire.

"Okay, okay. Moral of the story, I need more faith in you," said Vi as she rolled her eyes, "What word anyway?"

After a few more whispers Claire turned around. Vi folded her arms and sulked. For a moment Claire could almost see the slight smirk on Space's face. God that was irritating.

"After careful consideration from myself and my associate," Claire said sweetly, "We decided that-"

"-YOU CAN ALL ROAST IN HELL!" Vi bellowed.

Before the Academy had time to even look shocked Claire threw as much electricity at them as she possibly could. Over the time they'd been training with Kraken she'd learned to use it as a long range weapon, and the rewards were satisfying. However, she felt her legs go weak. It looked like she'd given it just a little bit too much. No time for that now though.

"Leg it!" she yelled to Vi.

Without wasting a moment Vi scrambled over the wall. Claire wasn't nearly as good at that as her friend was, and now it felt like she'd just pulled four all-nighters in a row. However she did manage it after a minute or two. As soon as she hit the ground the two of them started running over the stripped cars and other rusty scraps of metal.

The junkyard was a great place to get lost in, as Claire and Vi had discovered as children. The only downside was that you made a fuckload of noise as you went along. That, however, was unavoidable. She hoped that the mere fact it was a labyrinth would be able to save them from capture.

From the clattering behind them she realized that that was no longer an option.

"Pick up the pace!" she said.

The look on her friend's face told her that she didn't need to be told twice. Vi simply nodded and started pumping her legs even faster. In fact, she was even pulling ahead of Claire. This, of course, couldn't be too hard considering how exhausted she felt. However, she was going a good deal faster than she would normally. Where the hell was that girl getting all that energy from? The thought that that couldn't be natural entered Claire's mind before she shook it off.

There was still a chance that they could lose them here. They knew the place much better than her uncles after all. The whole place was so full of unexpected nooks and crannies, all of them known by heart by her and Vi. They'd played in it so often as children. Hell, they used it as a shortcut to school sometimes.

Not to mention the fact that they both seemed to be thinking the same thing. That was probably the reason why it made it so easy for her and Vi to work together, the two of them having similar ideas. For instance, she didn't even have to suggest to Vi that they use the shortcut through the broken down TV's and computers. It probably came from growing up together.

A crash behind them that neither she nor Vi had made snapped her out of her reverie. She turned just in time to avoid a tentacle that was trying to grab her. Claire tried desperately to summon up more long-range sparks, but it looked like she'd spent herself out earlier. So instead she'd just had to settle for grabbing hold of the tentacle and shocking him.

The one who actually ended surprised was her. The exhaustion tripled and her breathing became labored. If Claire's legs had felt weak before they felt like jell-o now. It was all she could do to remain standing. It was with extreme concern and panic that the thought entered her brain that she wouldn't have the energy to get home.

.

.

.

A little ways off Séance had decided to use Horror's attack as a distraction. He grabbed Vi by the hair and took a deep sniff.

"Hey!" he said heartbrokenly, "You switched shampoos!"

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" snarled Vi as she slammed her head backwards into his face.

She heard him gasp in pain before elbowing him in the ribs. Vi looked at her work with satisfaction before looking over at Claire. One of Horror's tentacles had wrapped itself around Claire's leg, causing her to collapse. To Vi's complete surprise she saw that her friend didn't seem to be fighting back. In fact, it looked like she was struggling to stay awake.

Just as she registered this she heard a crash to her right and saw Spaceboy land. At the same time she heard Séance get back to his feet to her right, clutching a bloody nose. She looked at Claire. She was surrounded, but she'd figure something out, she'd-

"Get out of here!" Claire shouted.

Vi shook her head in disbelief. She wasn't going to leave her there. Her eyes darted about, looking at the two Academy members closing in on her.

"Be realistic! Come back for me later."

Once more Vi shook her head as she assessed her options.

"I know what I'm doing!"

"Séance, flank right," Space said coldly.

For a minute Vi continued to be stubborn. Yeah, it was stupid to stay here. Yet, that was what she was supposed to do. She wasn't going to abandon her-

"You said you'd trust me!" Claire yelled desperately.

The plea hit something in Vi's brain. Claire was right. It would do no good to get them both captured.

"You guys fucking touch her and you're in for a fucking world of hurt," she said.

Space lunged forward but Vi ducked and launched herself through another junk pile. She started running, faster than she'd ever run. They were chasing her, but she'd make it. She could already see the fence. Wriggling through a hole in it, she escaped out into the night.


	27. Chapter 27

March 29, 1986

In the late hours of the night a woman with thick sunglasses and far too much make-up entered the City Police department. She could've been in her twenties, but the scarf she wore over her head combined with the sunglasses made it difficult to determine her age. The woman also wore a tweed coat that was also too old for her in that or any decade.

Combined with the fact that she walked awkwardly, as though she wasn't used to the high heels she was wearing and that boded for trouble. Body had been in the force for several years and he knew what was trouble and what wasn't. And this woman bore all the signs of being a shitload of trouble.

There were many signs. For instance, in his experience women with lots of make-up were bad news. Not to mention the obvious signs that she wanted to conceal her identity. Normally he'd put any conversation with her on speaker phone and ask for a few fellow officers as witnesses. However, when she asked for Torrenton, he'd ushered her in as quickly as possible.

Over time Torrenton, or Kraken as he had once been called, had gathered a rather large group of informants. They had showed up at the office at all hours, all of them concealing their identities and all of them looking extremely odd. As the years had passed Body learned to stop digging too deeply into the matter. It just served to piss off Torrenton, and he was violent on a good day.

When he showed her in he thought he saw a flicker of confusion come across Torrenton's face. Nonetheless he'd recovered quickly and asked Body to shut the door behind him. Kraken waited until the chimp was out of earshot before asking;

"Now who the hell are you?"

The woman took off her sunglasses to reveal that there was actually a mask on underneath it. He repressed the urge to swear at the new development. He really didn't need something like this so late it was almost early. Kraken hadn't even had his coffee yet.

"I know it's a bad costume," Nix said as she rubbed her temples, "But it was all I could think of."

"Well you're right; it is a bad costume," he said, taking a deep drag of his cigarette, "Next time make something that doesn't look quite so much like you're trying to stay hidden. It makes you stand out."

"Whatever," said Nix irritably, "Look, I don't have much time-"

"For what?" he asked, "This is my office at my job you know. I have things to do, paperwork to fill out, and other grown-up things that end in the making of money which, although irritating, is something I have to do-"

"Your brothers came after us tonight," she stated bluntly, "They got Torpere and I've got to rescue her before anyone knows she's missing or they find out who she is. I need to know anything about the Hargreeves manor layout that could help."

Swearing Kraken smashed his cigarette into an ash tray. This really fucked-up his night for him.  
"I thought I told you two to run like hell if you saw them," he hissed.

Nix's eyes narrowed and she placed her hands on her hips.

"We did. But they are very fast and very experienced and Torpere overextended her powers," she said.

He raised his eyebrows.

"Alright, they're better than you. We all know this. So my question is; why weren't you captured with her?"

Nix looked away, ashamed.

"She told me to trust her, that she knew what she was doing," she whispered, "She told me I just needed to keep going and come back for her later. I…"

Despite himself Kraken felt sympathy towards the girl. She'd done the smart but cowardly thing, but right now she was probably wishing she'd done the brave and stupid thing instead.

"You did the right thing," he heard himself saying, "and the smart thing. You both would've gotten taken in otherwise. This way there's a chance."

He was borderline disgusted with himself. Where had all that garbage come from? And since when had he started to dispense out advice to wayward teenagers? Part of his brain suggested that the date had been February 10 when he'd first approached them. The other part said that he was too damn young and angry to play the fucking mentor.

"So you think I can do something?" she asked, looking up hopefully.

The 'I' was impressive. Not only was she not asking for his help, but she actually thought she could take all this on by herself.

"It's been over fifteen years since I last set foot in the Hargreeves manor," he said, "So I don't know too much about the new security arrangements. In other words it'd sort of be a crap shot if we tried to attack them there. Luckily we have other options."

He lit another cigarette as Nix sank down into the chair across from his desk.

"What do you mean other bases?"

He breathed in the cigarette before saying;

"Not a lot of people know this but the Academy has three bases. One, obviously, is the manor. The other is Hargreeves' airship, _The Minerva_. Now the third, and this is probably going to sound weird, is beneath the City Amusement Park."

Nix shrugged.

"Not that weird," she said, "I read on the internet that there was something there, since Hargreeves was involved in building the park."

"God damn the internet," Kraken growled, "But anyway, we're in luck because I don't believe they brought her to the manor. That's the main one and they probably wouldn't risk a security breach which would undoubtedly happen if she gets out. I don't think they put her on _The Minerva _either, mostly because of the fact that that's mostly used for the transportation of criminals to the Hotel. So that leaves the Amusement Park one, and that one's security doesn't really change, at least for now."

"What do you mean by at least for now?" asked Nix.

"I mean at least for now," he said, "If she joins them then it's to the manor. For some reason I don't think she's going to do that. Now, they probably aren't willing to turn her over to the police because Hargreeves is going to see this as a personal insult to his monopoly on superheroes. So that means they'd probably put her on the airship and from there to the Hotel. Trust me; you don't want it to go as far as the Hotel. Now how long ago did this happen?"

She checked her watch.

"About fifteen minutes."

Kraken's eyebrows shot up in admiration.

"Damn, you move fast," he said, "Now let's get to the Park."

He got up and shoved his arms into his trench coat.

"We?" she asked, "You're…coming?"

"Hell yeah," he snorted as he slipped a knife into its side sheath, "You really can't do this alone. Besides, my brothers seem to need to be taken down a peg or two."

Looking back he saw Nix looking at him with an odd grin.

"Let's get a move on then," she said, sliding her sunglasses back on.


	28. Chapter 28

March 30, 1986

Claire fidgeted in the chair she was tied to. Space had tied her hands behind her back very tightly and there was absolutely no give. However, he could have loosened them a little so that the rope wouldn't cut into her hands quite so much. She comforted herself with the thought that she'd get him later.

This was the only comfort that she had and it wasn't very much. Truth be told, she was actually rather scared. Despite her earlier reassurances to Vi, she had no idea what she was going to do. Hell, she didn't even have the makings of a plan. She was flying blind in a matter that she really didn't want to leave to chance.

All she knew was that she had to keep it together and make sure not to say anything compromising. A good poker face was key now. As the door to the room opened, the thought crossed her mind that she had never been particularly good at cards. Nonetheless she steeled her face into a look of derision, the only look that she'd ever had for her uncles.

.

.

.

Space regarded the girl coldly. He noted to himself that she did likewise, which might've been funny if they weren't in the situation they were in.

"So," he said.

"So," she answered, deliberately looking away from him.

"This isn't a situation that I'd wanted us to be in," he said.

Torpere snorted. Ignoring her he continued;

"I understand that we messed up our introductions with you."

"You can say that again."

"However," he said, "You must see that the responsibilities you're trying to shoulder are much more complex and difficult than you're capable of."

She raised an eyebrow, still looking away.

"You were ten on your first mission."

"True," Space said, "But we had guidance and people to train us. Your operation is what we call 'fly-by-night'."

"We were doing pretty good until you came along," she said.

The girl was frustrating him with her stubbornness. At this point Spaceboy doubted that she was actually listening to a word he said. Perhaps she'd already figured out what she'd wanted to say over the past few hours.

"Blaming us won't solve anything," he replied, "Think about this realistically. We're trying to match your face to the denizens of the City to find out who you are. Horror's working on it in the next room right now. After we figure you out it won't take long for us to find the identity of the Nix."

She continued looking away from him. Deciding to give her one more chance to accept their offer he said;

"Look, we're offering you tools you need to do a job you obviously care about in exchange for some information about you for security purposes. This doesn't have to go bad. We can still work this out."

Torpere turned to look at him since the first time since he'd come into the room.

"You sound just like every damned grown-up who's ever fucked me over," she sneered, "It's always; 'We know what you need' or 'Trust us.' And of course, my all time personal favorite; 'We can still work this out.' They always say it like they're doing me a favor when I know it's just them trying to make themselves feel better."

Space blinked, taken back.

"Now," she said, her tone still scornful, "You seem to want to be this big hero with all you're little, 'I'm going to help these wayward girls do things right.' But to you doing things right is doing it your way. If we refuse you can always say that you tried and then take the moral high ground. You have got some serious vanity there, Mr. High-and-Mighty-Self-Absorbed-Hero. Tell me, has that attitude ever actually worked with **anyone**?"

He didn't say a word. The sneer, the tone, the look in her eyes, everything reminded him of something years ago, something he'd always wanted to forget. He tried to push it back, but it flooded in anyway.

"_So you're going?" he asked._

_Rumor looked up at him, eighteen in his memory, and rolled her eyes. She threw a sweater into a suitcase before answering._

"_What tipped you off?" she asked._

_He stared at her for a few moments more._

"_Don't leave."_

_She paused in her packing and turned to look at him._

"_Pardon?"_

"_Don't leave," he repeated, his voice deadpan._

_Rumor laughed harshly. _

"_Why would I want to stay?" she asked, "There really isn't anything for me here unless I want to do this whole hero thing for the rest of my life. Nah, I'm more of a typical suburban family girl."_

_Space looked to the floor, feeling the sharp bite of heartache. _

"_So you're going to marry him then," he said, more of a statement than a question._

"_Yeah," she said, "Perfect escape."_

"_You really want to leave that badly you'd marry the first bastard who came along?" Space asked bitterly._

_The slam of the suitcase lid echoed across the room. Rumor turned around to face him._

"_**Now **__you're jealous?" she asked, "Couple of years too late for that pal. And no, Patrick isn't the first guy to come along. Maybe he isn't Prince Charming, but he did give me something that gave me the strength to get out of here."_

_In shock he saw her hand slide to her stomach._

"_You're-" he started._

"_Yeah," she said, "I am. This child is the reason I'm getting the hell out."_

"_You don't have to leave just because-" he protested._

"_You just don't get it, do you Luther?" she snapped, "I could probably care less about Patrick being a father to this child. That's not why I'm marrying him! It's because I don't want them to have to go through the same thing that I did! Not for them, they deserve better and I can give it to them!"_

_Whipping around she snapped the suitcase shut. _

"_As for your jealousy, you're too fucking late!" she snapped, "I'm choosing him and this child over you and the Academy. It's not for the things that you can't give me because of your insecurities about your 'condition', because I never gave a fuck about that. It's for the things you wouldn't give me because you're too wrapped up in yourself!"_

_He didn't say anything as she picked up her suitcase. _

"_Think of it this way," said Rumor, "In ten years I'm going __to be married with a ki__d and a white picket fence, everything I want. But you're __still going to be fighting scum and wearing those stupid costumes.__ Goodbye Luther.__"_

_Without a backward glance she walked out of her room, out of the Academy, and out of his life._

Blinking once more he tried to concentrate on the present. It was hard though, with the girl looked at him with that same contemptuous expression Rumor had given him that night over a decade ago. She was even using similar words. With difficulty he got to his feet and headed to the door.

"You're probably right," he admitted quietly, "But that doesn't change how things are going to play out."

He shut the door behind him before she could answer.

"Hey," Horror asked, turning around in his swiveling chair, "You look kinda pale. Are you alright-?"

"I'm fine!" snapped Space, "Just figure out who she is and have done with it! And watch her on the security cameras!"

Ignoring his brother's shocked look he stormed down the hallways, fighting the nauseous feeling of depression fostering in his gut all the way.


	29. Chapter 29

March 30, 1986

Claire had been surprised at Space's reaction. She'd expected him to get angry, maybe even angry enough to make a mistake. Instead he'd just looked like he was about to be sick. It made her wonder for the first time if maybe he didn't quite like what he was doing. This implied, of course, that if the stoniest one was having doubts than the other two would probably be having them as well.

She went over his words in her head. He'd mentioned that Horror was in the next room trying to figure out who she was. That meant he'd probably be keeping an eye on her too. She tilted her head thoughtfully. From her mother's stories and what she'd read he was probably the softest one. Claire gave an internal smile. Maybe her chances of escape were better than she'd thought.

.

.

.

Jormungand looked at the photos.

"So I suppose they really aren't with the Academy," he murmured to himself, "Fancy that."

The man who delivered them shifted to his other foot.

"We have reports coming in that confirm that the Academy has taken her to their Park base," he said, "We await your orders."

At first Jormungand didn't reply. He looked at the picture of the Academy taking Torpere intently, moving it around to take the scene in from different angles. If what his men said was true, and they knew better than to lie to him, she had been able to project electricity from far away at three different people. That was…extraordinarily strong.

"Sir?" the man asked.

"Send a group after them," he said, "Make sure to get Kent on it. Our truce with the Academy is officially over, so kill them if you can. Optimistically you'd retrieve them alive, but I don't think that's going to happen. If the second of the 'Dayton Girls' shows up, kill her as well. I have no time for people without powers. But do bring the electricity girl alive."

The man nodded and turned to go. Once more Jormungand adjusted the picture. Of course, it couldn't be her. That idea had ended with a fast moving river and a headstrong bitch many years ago. Even so it was a remarkable coincidence, and if there was one thing he didn't believe in it was coincidences.

"And while you're at it," he said, "bring me all the files from the Baldor Project."

.

.

.

"You ready to do this?" Kraken asked as the two of them walked through the Amusement park.

"Born ready," Nix replied flippantly as she looked up from the park map she was holding.

He smirked to himself. If there was one thing you could say about Nix, she was confident. That would be good. There really wasn't any room for self-doubt on this particular mission.

"If I remember correctly the entrance is under the Ferris Wheel," he said.

"Map says it's closed for renovations."

"Closed for renovations my ass," he said as he handed her a bracelet, "That just means they're using it. This is a tracking device, since we're going to need to meet up after the fireworks are over."

"Meet up?" she asked as she pocketed the map and put on the bracelet.

"Yeah. We're going to split up," he continued, "Only way I can think of that we'd stand a chance against my bastard brothers. Now you're going to have to serve as a distraction while I get your friend, because they're expecting you but I'd bet my good eye that they're not expecting me. The thing'll beep when I've got her and we'll rendezvous at the carousel. Think you can hold them out until then?"

He saw her think about it.

"Probably not," she admitted, "Unless…"

She frowned.

"Finish your sentence," he demanded.

"Do they still have those security bikes around here?" she asked.

"Yeah, I think I saw one when we came in. Why?"

"Then yeah, I can," she said.

He smirked in amusement.

"You ride?"

"Yeah."

"What model?"

"Harley Davidson," she said, "The year wore off but it's older than 1970."

"Nice."

"You ride?"

"Since I was a teenager," he said, "Not so much anymore, for practicality sake. But you planning some sort of tricks or something?"

"Sort of. But it probably won't work for more than ten minutes. Do you think you can get her out in that time?"

"Dunno," he said, "You're going to have to trust me."

"Alright."

Kraken stopped short.

"Why the **hell **do you trust **me**?"

Nix shrugged.

"Maybe because I have no other choice," she said, "Or maybe it's because you've been helping us when I know you don't want to. Or maybe it's because I just do. Take your pick."

Once more he got the urge to ask just who the hell she was. However, he repressed it as they approached the Ferris wheel.

.

.

.

Horror was very worried. He'd never really liked the idea that they had essentially kidnapped a teenage girl. Like he had told Rumor he was feeling like it was time to bail when that they'd started to go after them. That had been how he'd felt while they'd chased after them. Now that they had actually taken one in his conscience was eating away at him like a termite ate at wood.

Then he had seen the girl's behavior. At first he'd thought that she was just nervous about her situation from the darting glances and furrowed brow. He knew he'd be if he was in her situation. Then he'd seen her start to gnaw on her lip almost compulsively. Just when he was starting to wonder if she was alright she'd burst into tears.

"Come on," he said to himself, looking away from the camera, "You can do this. Don't look, don't look, don't look…"

Despite his words he did look and she was still crying. Again the thought that he had basically aided in a kidnapping came to his mind. This girl probably had family, family that would get into trouble if anyone knew who she was and she was just trying to protect them. On the other hand…if they took her to the Hotel…no. Surely it wouldn't go that far.

That thought had comforted him for awhile, until he'd remembered the furious, sick look on Space's face. Maybe they would take it that far. Could he willingly send someone who hadn't technically done anything wrong to that place? No, no he couldn't. Sighing deeply he got up and headed towards the door.

They'd kill him if they found out what he'd done, or maybe just take his eye like they had with Kraken. That was, of course, only if he stayed long enough for them to find out. He had been looking for a catalyst for his departure. It might as well be tonight, even if he wasn't at all ready for it. If only he'd had a few more days…too late now. Tapping in his security code Horror opened the door to the room.

She lifted her tear-stained face towards him when he entered the room.

"I'm gonna let you go, okay?" he said, "The exit's the third door on the right. You've got about half an hour before they come to check on you, and when they do you'll have to be out of here because they'll press the alarm. Got it?"

Torpere blinked at him.

"Why…?" she asked.

"Because I should've done this earlier," he said as his tentacles untied her hands, "My brothers took things too far and I should've stopped them. But I didn't. Now get out of here while you can."

The knots came undone and she got to her feet.

"Thanks," she said, "But you'll probably get into trouble for this."

"Probably."

"You seem like a good guy, and I wouldn't want you to get in trouble because of me," she said as she put a hand on his shoulder, "So here's my parting gift."

Electric shock flowed through his body and he passed out, unconscious. She felt slightly bad about that, just as she felt bad about the fake tears. Nonetheless, it had had to be done. With a great deal of effort Torpere managed to drag him back into the other room and threw him into the swivel chair just as the computer dinged;

"MATCH. CLAIRE SMITH. AGE FIFTEEN. ADDRESS 134 SKYLINE LANE."

Claire looked at the computer with disdain before pressing her hands on the keyboard and shocking the shit out of it. Sparks crackled and danced around it. Then she went back and fried the security code pad. Before heading towards the exit she took a good look around the room and deemed it satisfactory. They couldn't punish him for letting her go if it looked like she'd escaped by herself after all.


	30. Chapter 30

March 30, 1986

Vi surveyed the floor to the main entrance hall for the eighth time. It was criss-crossed with many green lasers that Kraken had told her would sound the alarm if triggered. Looking upwards she noted the placement and attatchment of the overhanging balconies. They rose in levels, almost like stairs. Then, almost irritably, she checked her bracelet, which she saw had gone from blinking red to blinking green. About time.

She thrust her arms high into the air as if she was stretching. Then she threw herself forward, landing on the palms of her hands. With elegance and poise she took great care to cartwheel through every single laser. Then, just to make sure she hadn't missed any, she cartwheeled backwards.

Flipping her hair out of her face she looked up. She had done her job well; otherwise all of the red lights wouldn't be flashing. Nodding with satisfaction she headed towards a ladder which led to one of the overhangs. Once she struggled onto one she leaned up against a covered object and looked down on the area.

Almost immediately afterwards she saw Séance and Spaceboy rush onto the scene. Horror wasn't there, but he was probably just guarding the prisoner. Kraken could probably take care of him easily enough. Vi smirked. It was all going according to plan.

The two of them looked around.

"No one knows we're here. Might've just been a malfunction," yawned Séance.

"**All** of them?" snapped Space, "No, someone was here…"

Vi sucked in a big breath.

"HEY DEUSCHBAGS!"

The two of them looked up at her and she put on her best Cheshire cat grin.

"Looking for little 'ol me?" she asked.

"Souless buyer of cooperate shampoos!" Séance shrieked, pointing a finger at her accusationally.

"Come to join your friend?" Space asked, ignoring his brother.

"Sort of," she said, "Catch me if you can!"

Vi was able to easily dodge the first object thrown at her. The nest three were slightly more difficult. Séance seemed to be in a fever pitch of hysteria, going on and on about how she had betrayed the shampoo. Unfortunately for her his hysteria was punctuated by large objects thrown at her. Space was also starting to climb the ladder after her. Time for plan B.

Spinning around she whipped the tarp off the large object. The park security bike gleamed as she got onto it and revved up the engine. Space managed to get up onto the platform as she kicked off.

"Catch me if you can!" she repeated as she spun away.

Growling Space spun after her. She grabbed one of the supporting poles in order to make a sharp turn. As soon as that was over she accelerated her speed. Vi was in her element now, knowing what to do. There was no uncertainty about motorcycles with her. There had never been ever since she was six.

Jerking it backwards she had it go up the ramp onto the next level of platforms. It was the only place to go, so further up, up, up, and up! Oh, and occasionally across. Space was still pursuing, and from Séance's shrieks she figured he was too. That was good. She just hoped that her performance was enough for the distraction Kraken needed.

.

.

.

Space didn't understand Nix. He briefly reflected on her behavior as he followed her up to the third level. She was laughing like a maniac and…running away. If she'd come to save Torpere than she'd at least try running deeper into the compound. Instead she was nearly at ground level and just running. Unless this was some sort of prank, and he doubt it was, there was something else going on.

This was confirmed by the cocky look she shot at him as she drove. The thought that she hadn't come alone shot through his brain like a bullet. Someone else was freeing Torpere while she put on the little circus side show. Cursing himself for not noticing this earlier he grasped the rail of the platform and leapt off it.

He hit the ground running, shouting back to Séance;

"You deal with this! I'm going for Torpere!"

Séance shrugged before turning on his levitator belt. As he ran off he didn't notice the almost frantic motions Nix used as she pressed the communications button on the bracelet.

.

.

.

Claire gritted her teeth as the alarms went off. That had **not **been half an hour! Unless, of course, Horror had been lying to her. On the other hand, what was the point of helping her and then lying? Maybe it had been part of an elaborate scheme, but for some reason she just couldn't see Horror being part of an elaborate scheme. It was probably those big doe eyes of his.

The other alternative was that Vi had come back. Claire clenched her fist. She wasn't supposed to come back for her! Sure she had told her too, but she figured that Vi would realize that it was far too dangerous to actually go through with. She prayed fervently that Vi wasn't all alone doing something stupid.

As she hurried around a corner she ran into a large solid…something. The impact knocked both of them backwards. The impact dazed her, but she quickly got to her feet in preparation to fight. Her stance changed as she realized who it was.

"Watch where you're going, will 'ya?" growled Kraken as he got to his feet.

At least Vi wasn't doing something stupid **alone**.

"Seems a bit of a fool's errand," he said grumpily, "Still, nice job escaping."

Claire nodded at the grudging compliment.

"Is Nix with you?" she asked.

"Yeah. She's the distraction."

"The WHAT?!"

"Keep your voice down," Kraken hissed, "She's got an escape route all ready for her. Now come on, before someone notices you're missing."

Just as he said that there was a fizzing noise from a bracelet he wore around his wrist. Frowning he pressed a button on it. Vi's voice filtered through;

"Kraken! Monkey-ass is getting down there, and he looks fuckin' pissed!"

Claire nudged Kraken. He looked down the hallway to see Spaceboy standing at the end of the hall, clenching his fists and looking absolutely livid.

"Duly noted," Kraken said flatly before switching off.

There was a tense pause. She saw Kraken's hand inch towards his knife.

"There's another back door," hissed Kraken, his voice low and odd, "Go through the left hallway. Get something to cover your uniform and meet at the carasouel. It's the rendezvous point. I'll take care of this asshole. Now."

Knowing better than to argue with the tone in his voice Claire turned around and legged it down the hallway.


	31. Chapter 31

March 30, 1986

Kraken and Spaceboy circled each other, slowly but surely. Space moved his hand to his laser gun. In response Kraken gripped his knife tighter.

"So this is what it comes down to, is it?" Space asked quietly, "Sabotaging us in any means possible and then using teenagers to do your dirty work?"

"Yes and no," said Kraken, "They were a coincidence. I'm helping them because…because…it's not important. Anyway, they don't have a damn thing to do with this."

"Well, you've always hated me," said Space, "Why is that?"

Kraken's feet lost the rhythm and for a split second he stopped.

"You don't know," he said, "You honestly don't know."

He gritted his teeth in frustration as Spaceboy looked at him, confused.

"Look asshole," growled Kraken, "we're wolves. All of us, a house of wolves dressed up like heroes. Only, unlike a pack, we had no unity except the threat of being snapped at. I never wanted to obey the alpha and you wanted everyone to fall in line. When wolves don't obey the alpha, one of the wolves that does will go after it. Simple as that. Just logistics, nothing fucking special about it."

The circling continued, only slightly more purposefully now.

"Of course, fact of the matter is," Kraken continued, "I don't really hate you. I fucking **abhor **you. And there was, actually, a particular moment when that happened."

Space still looked a shade confused.

"You told me you found out about me and Vanya the day of the funeral," he said, his grin terrible, "But you knew for longer than that. Day before she left for college the last time, I noticed the way you were looking at us."

"That doesn't mean anything," replied Space.

Kraken laughed bitterly as he removed his trench coat and threw it on the floor.

"You're right," he said, "It doesn't mean a damn thing unless it's combined with you giving me all the missions that took me out of the city for days at a time since Summer break started. Oh, and the fact that when I got home Vanya was generally away on clean-up duty. The fact that you took away some of my last days with her is shitty, but what really made me hate you is that I found out that it was your decision, not Hargreeves', to have her buried without anyone knowing. I've known for years."

Space's eyes widened in comprehension before they settled on a more neutral state of alertness.

"If that's true then why didn't you say anything at the grave the other week?"

"Because I'm not a fucking moron," snapped Kraken, "If I let on then I'd have to hear a lame-ass excuse and I wouldn't be able to fucking restrain myself from ripping your fucking head off. There were three of you there and only one of me and I'm not dying just yet. So admit it Space-ass."

There was another short pause in which Kraken rolled up his sleeves. Finally Space nodded curtly.

"Yes, I knew about you. And I was trying to do you a favor by burying the corpse before you saw her," he hissed, "It was so mangled that even I had a hard time recognizing her!"

"Hm," Kraken said, twirling his knife, "That's exactly the lame-ass excuse I didn't want to hear. So I'll ask you again; was it too much to ask to see her again? Was it you fucking bastard?"

Kraken knew that he was showing murder in his eyes. Nonetheless Space responded;

"Why were you never rational?" he hissed, "And besides, Vanya wasn't some sort of saint to idealize. Now it's my turn to ask again; why the hell do you insist on fighting for someone who died so long ago that you probably even have a hard time remembering what she looked like!?"

The question caught Kraken off guard enough so that he answered it honestly.

"Because…because," he said distantly, "…she loved me. She saw some sort of worth in me that had absolutely nothing to do with my ability to kill people. Vanya was mine when I had nothing. Besides that, before I even knew how she felt, she trusted me. She trusted me to the point where she'd let me take her into dangerous situations and disfavor. Do you have any idea whatsoever it feels like to be trusted that completely, or to be loved like that? Nah, 'course you don't."

His voice came more into focus until he was sneering by the end of it.

"You're still hating me uselessly you know," said Space, "How long do you intend to continue on like this? And in the future I want you to know that if you'd asked me I wouldn't have buried her."

Kraken repressed a dry chuckle.

"Yeah Space, what good does that do me now when the worms have probably eaten her and her bones are dust?" Kraken said sarcastically, "And just so you know, 'in the future', when I ask you for something it'll mean that I've shoved aside all of my dignity. I'd have to be real fucking desperate. As for how long I'll hate you, the day I bury the hatchet it'll be in your back. Hopefully today is that day."

.

.

.

The minute Séance had started floating leisurely upwards Vi looked down, her brain racing rapidly for options. As he came closer she saw the murder in his eyes. What the hell was up with this guy and shampoo? She shook her head in an attempt to clear it. She needed to focus now, not think about Claire's uncle's weird motives.

Why hadn't she remembered he could fly? Or even if she hadn't, couldn't she have remembered that Hargreeves was the inventor of the levitator? How could she have been so damned stupid? Once more there was no time for that. She needed to think clearly about what her next move was.

Vi couldn't run. Not at the rate he was ascending anyway. She also doubted her physical prowess would actually work on him. Before he'd fought her almost as if he was joking around, what was happening now was a completely different story. She recalled in an article that he had once made a man throw himself into a vat of hot metal. Vi shuddered, having no wish to fall into any sort of hot liquid metal despite the fact that there was none around.

Despite the logical flow of her thoughts what Vi actually ended up doing came from sheer panic when he actually did arrive. He'd smirked and Vi was suddenly flooded with the feeling, once more, of having no wish to fall into any sort of hot liquid metal. The next thing she knew she was on her feet and had picked up the motorcycle.

If Vi hadn't been quite so hurried she might've paused to wonder just how she'd been able to pick up the motorcycle. The next thing she might've wondered about was how the fucking hell she'd managed to throw it at him. Sure, she could lift lots of weight at the gym. Yet, throwing a motorcycle like it was a snowball? There was no way she could do that.

However, she wasn't in the calm frame of mind it would take to try to make sense of what had happened. She was hurried so she didn't even look back after she certified that it had made contact, knocking him downwards. Instead she just ran for the ground floor exit that Kraken had told her about earlier.

Her hurry also had one other unfortunate side effect. Because of the speed with which she was barreling up the platforms, she didn't stop to take a close look at her environment. This led to her not looking at the platforms above her. If she had looked, then she would've seen Kent, Jormungand's sharpshooter and best marksman, taking careful aim with his machine gun.


	32. Chapter 32

March 30, 1986

Space pulled his gun and shot at Kraken, who dodged the blast. He then punched Space across the jaw with the hand that held the knife. A cut appeared on Space's chin but he pulled away to deliver a punch with a rather significant increase of impact from Kraken's to his opponent's stomach. Kraken went flying towards the wall.

His stomach felt like someone had plunged a sword into it. Kraken probably had a few cracked ribs, perhaps one or two broken ones. Nonetheless he dragged himself to his feet and hit Space once more across the face. This time he felt Space's nose break and followed it up with another one. You always had to press your advantage after the first hit.

Space stumbled backwards as blood poured freely from his nose. He pulled the trigger on his gun just as Kraken threw his knife. Both objects missed the other and both opponents cursed. Kraken rammed in for another punch, knocking the gun out of his brother's hand. Space used his close proximity to grab his longish hair. Then he proceeded to bang Kraken's head against the wall repeatedly. Kraken threw his elbow back, catching his brother in the ribs. The pain made Space let go and he was free once more.

Wiping blood from his lips Kraken sneered at him as he got unsteadily to his feet.

"Best you can do asshole?" he asked.

"More," snarled Space, "We both know I'm stronger than you."

That was true. Even when they'd had brawls or mock fought in the gym Kraken had always known that Space was stronger than him. He was faster too. However, Kraken had never fought him with the burning abhorrence that he had for him now. Yes, there had been hate. It was nothing though; absolutely nothing compared to what he was feeling right now.

With a guttural growl that seemed barely human he dropped into a low kick, tripping him. There was no honor among wolves. Then he jumped on top of him and hit him repeatedly in the face, blood flying up and stinging at Kraken's eyes. As he hit him he saw something gleam on the floor; his knife. Kraken reached for it with his spare hand and held it tightly across Space's throat.

A thin red line appeared across his brother's throat and the thought that he could kill him now crossed Kraken's mind. Following that thought a sick joy entered his mind and he grinned that terrible grin he'd given only minutes earlier. At that moment he heard a rattle of a machine gun. He figured it probably originated in the direction of the foyer. His mind screamed out that it didn't matter; only his revenge did.

So the thought was pushed from his mind in his blinding rage. Just he was about to put the final pressure on Space's throat-

"_Dunno," he said, "You're going to have to trust me."_

"_Alright."_

_Kraken stopped short._

"_Why the __**hell **__do you trust __**me**__?"_

_Nix shrugged._

"_Maybe because I have no other choice," she said, "Or maybe it's because you've been helping us when I know you don't want to. __**Or maybe it's because I just do**__. __**Or maybe it's because I just do**__. __**Or maybe it's because I just do**__…"_

Trust, something Vanya had always given him unconditionally. Something that girl was giving him on the same terms. Nix was probably going to get shot to death if she didn't get help soon. She'd trusted him that it would only take ten minutes and she could get out…it obviously wasn't and he was still…he was stalling for Torpere of course but…but…

He had to go now. His brain screamed against that, saying he could kill Spaceboy first. It told him that Torpere could take care of it. However, he knew he couldn't and she could be on the other side of the park. There wasn't any time, he had to go now. He had to fulfill that trust that she was giving to him for some stupid reason. All of this passed through his head in a second.

Kraken removed his knife from Space's throat and quickly sheathed it. He then jerked away from Space and ran off in the direction of the foyer. As he did he scooped up his coat and vaguely registered the look of surprise on Space's face. No matter. He'd asked for her trust earlier, and he was going to fulfill it now.

.

.

.

Claire had made it to the exit when she heard the same sound of rattling that Kraken had heard. She quickly wondered which one of her uncles was crazy enough to use a machine gun. When her hand was on the doorknob the answer raced through her brain; neither of them. Well, they were both crazy enough to do it. However, to her knowledge neither of them **had **a machine gun.

Would it be Séance? Again, he was crazy enough to have one. However, the idea of him **using** one was like a gerbil writing the next great American novel. In other words, it didn't make sense. She vaguely entertained the idea of the cops. Cops didn't interfere in Academy business though, unless they were Kraken, and they probably didn't have the budget for a machine gun.

This meant that there was a third party in the base, one that had come well equipped and was probably up to no good. The thought was odd, especially seeing how she herself was fleeing them. However, her mind was still racing as she tried to figure out what the hell they were doing there. Coming to take down the Academy? Unlikely. Machine guns wouldn't take them out unless they were atomically altered.

Of course, if they were well equipped then they were obviously prepared for a fight. They had come there with the sole purpose of killing someone there. Finally her thoughts reached a rather terrible conclusion.

"Vi," she whispered in horror.

Turning around from the exit she bolted towards the sound of gunfire. Another burst followed the first and she felt her pulse quicken. Claire cursed her slow legs and begged the powers that be she'd be there in time. Her luck that day hadn't seemed particularly good so far though.

Pushing aside that thought she ran into the main foyer. She heard the rattling sound again and looked up. There were sparks and bits of metal flying everywhere. Claire threw her hands in front of her head to block the sharp metal bits that rained down. Footsteps thundered near her and she was surprised to see a blood spattered Kraken standing next to her and looking up.

Claire was about to ask him what was going one when she heard it, a voice both familiar and clear shouting;

"Ha! Is that all you got?!"

.

.

.

Vi was speaking with a confidence she didn't feel. However, she was angry. What kind of a bastard used a machine gun from a hidden place? If she hadn't been running as fast as he was he might've gotten her. Now it was just a matter of getting close enough to him to kick his cowardly ass.

Dodging another barrage of gunfire she launched herself up the platform. He was stunned, obviously, but she knew she couldn't count on that. Lashing out her ass-kicking boot caught him in the face. There was a sickening crunch and she was surprised at the realization that she'd broken his jaw. He howled in pain. Again, under calmer circumstances she would've started to think about it how odd that was. Seeing as circumstances were otherwise, it was pushed back.

She kicked him again, mindful that she had to take advantage of his shock as quickly as possible. That was something Kraken had taught her. Vi kicked him again and punched him in the stomach. He flew to the wall and slammed his head against it. She was going up to make sure he was out when he pulled what looked like a telescope out of his coat.

Quickly she got behind a wall for cover. It was good timing as flames blossomed out of the telescope and ignited the plaster walls. Vi felt the plaster melting off behind her and heard it drip. She ducked out from behind the wall only to see that he had lit the entire surrounding area on fire as well.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!" she snapped, "The whole place is going to go up!"

"Exactly," the man said, his voice slurring and pained because of his jaw, "Less evidence that way."

Evidence? Why the fuck was he worried about evidence? He'd just set the area on fire, probably dooming them both to death or at least serious injury. She felt a surge of anger at the casual disregard for life. Kicking the telescope-like device out of his hand she threw herself forward, punching him in his already broken jaw.

The man stumbled and pulled out a gun. She kicked it away as the flames rose higher. The man gave her a quick look before launching himself after the gun. Vi stepped down on his hand and heard his fingers crunch. He screamed and she followed it up with another hit to his face. He flew backwards and lay still.

Shaking her head she looked at the fire that was crackling all around her. This was a bad situation, no doubt about it. Looking over the rail she could make out the figures of Kraken and Claire rushing up the platforms. She grinned.

"Hey guys!" she yelled.

She saw the two of them stop and look up at her. She grinned again, her relief audible. Claire looked fine even though Kraken was suspiciously covered with blood. Vi resolved that she would have to ask him about that later, once she got out of the fire. Claire was waving her arm at her and Vi was just about to wave back when she saw Claire stop abruptly. She then started waving her arms and screaming something inaudible.

Vi heard the popping noise and then felt a burning, tearing sensation across her abdomen. Looking down she saw three spots of red on her silver leotard. Distantly she wondered if maybe she'd spilt something on it the other day. It was only when they started to grow and a cold feeling stole over her that she realized she'd been shot.

Turning around in slow motion she saw the man smirking at her in satisfaction. Oh, what do you know. He wasn't out, and it appeared that he had another gun with him. It was actually kind of funny when you thought about it. Her lips moved wordlessly as if to remark on it, and she collapsed to the ground.


	33. Chapter 33

March 30, 1986

Claire screamed as she saw Vi go down. She moved to go higher up on the platform when Kraken threw out a restraining arm. Furiously she turned to say something to him, but he jerked her to the side behind several supply barrels. Seconds later a hail of bullets clattered on the platform that they had been standing on only a minute before.

"You're no good to your friend if you're dead," he hissed, "We've got to take out the sniper somehow. I don't have a clear shot."

She looked down at the hand that was holding a knife suspiciously drenched with blood. Claire wanted to ask what had happened with Spaceboy, but she couldn't. Not when there were more important things to do. Cautiously she peeked around the barrels to try to get a better look at the situation.

More bullets made her jerk her head behind the safety of the barrels.

"Looks like if our friend has his way," Kraken growled, "I won't be getting one any time soon either."

He paused.

"Torpere," he said, "Go topside and call the hospital. Tell them it's a code orange at the Park. They'll know what it means."

"I'm not going to leave her!" she protested.

"I repeat," he snarled, "You're no good to her dead! That fire's spreading and we're gonna be dealing with some serious carbon monoxide poisoning soon. I don't have to breathe but there's a good chance you're going to fucking suffocate!"

Everything he said made sense. She'd asked Vi to do the smart thing hours earlier and it had saved her. Now Claire knew she had a similar choice to make. He knew it too from the way he was looking at her.

"You better fucking save her," she said as she inched her way.

She saw him look up at the sniper.

"I intend to."

.

.

.

Vi looked at the shoes of the man who had shot her. They were the only thing at her level, seeing as how she was lying on the ground. To her they looked pretty expensive and probably made of high-quality leather. There was also some sort of snake pattern that had been imprinted on them. She briefly reflected that she shouldn't be looking at shoes, especially given how her blood was pouring out of her.

Still, her mind was wandering. It was like she wasn't in control of it anymore. She found herself wondering what his socks looked like. Above her the man took his coat off in the heat and she saw a tattoo of a snake wrapped around a globe going up and down his right arm. It seemed to be wrapped around a globe. What was it with this guy and snakes?

There were more shots and she wondered who he was shooting at now. Vi blinked as the fire seemed to grow around her. Despite all of the heat she found that she was getting very cold now. Maybe her heat was seeping out with her blood. Vaguely she saw her blood mix with her hair, so beautiful…all gold and red.

Suddenly the thought came to her that she was going to die. No one could lose that much blood and survive. Not to mention the fact she probably had internal bleeding from the blood that was coming out of her mouth. That sobered her up like a kick to the face. She looked up at the man whose shoes she'd been studying only a minute before.

Most likely he was shooting at Claire and Kraken. She'd seen them only mere minutes before being shot after all. This bastard had shot her and left her to bleed it out so that he could move on to shoot other people, people she cared about. Gritting her teeth in anger she inched herself forward, ignoring the pain that was screaming from her side. He was going to pay.

Still inching forward she ran through her head for ideas. It was then that she saw the gun that she'd knocked out of his hand earlier lying on the ground. For a moment she hesitated, but there really seemed to be no other available choice. Slowly and as quietly as possible she moved towards it.

Vi remembered entertaining the idea that she'd have 'You should see the other guy' on her gravestone. She probably wouldn't. It was like she'd told anyone that that was her desire. Vi had always figured they'd think it was morbid. However, even if it wouldn't be set in stone that was how she was going to die. She'd have a few bruises and three gun wounds and he'd have broken bones and however many bullets were in this gun. Yeah, fuck him.

Killing someone had never exactly been the plan. There wasn't another option though. It was either killing this murdering cowardly jackass or letting her friends get shot. Put like that, everything came into perspective quite nicely.

"Hey," she hissed over the bubbling blood coming out of her mouth, "jackass."

He turned around just as she raised the gun. The first bullet hit his shoulder. The second hit his throat, but the next two landed in the center of his forehead. He sank to the ground. Tiredly Vi threw the gun aside. Well, that was that. Now all she had to do was lie down and wait to die.

.

.

.

Once Torpere was safely out of sight Kraken turned his attention back up to the sniper. When he saw the man turn around he wondered if he was reloading. He'd gotten up, ready to throw the knife when more shots rang out. Blood spattered out of him and he fell out of sight.

"I think it's safe to say Nix is still alive," he said to himself.

Pulling himself to his feet the he travelled the remaining distance to the sight. The flames had grown bigger, like a curtain over the scene. However, he could still make out the bloody form of the sniper and Nix's slumped figure. Briefly he figured he should try to put the fire out. He dismissed it almost immediately. There wasn't any time for that.

Quickly he walked towards the end of the platform. He'd done this before, of course, he had been a cop in exceedingly dangerous situations for over a decade after all. This trick however, had never been performed to this extent. Despite the fact that he didn't need it, he took a deep breath. Then he gave himself a running start before jumping over the fire.

He felt the flames snapping at his skin and he gritted his teeth in pain. However, he did manage to land in a place that was not currently on fire. Cautiously he walked over to where Nix was and crouched down.

"You okay?" he asked, knowing it was redundant.

"…want…you should see…other guy on…tombstone," she mumbled.

Kraken looked at the sniper who had obviously been in a shitload of pain before his death. As he looked over him his eyes rested for a second on the snake tattoo before moving on.

"Deal," he said, "But you can get it for some other event, not this one."

He took off his trench coat and covered her in it, making sure that her hair was tucked into it. She wasn't about to catch fire on his watch. Still using a good deal of care he started to pick her up. She groaned.

"Shit," he said as he saw her wounds.

"Mom…set it to snooze," she murmured, "It…it's Saturday…no school…"

Shaking his head he ran through the flames. They were still burning him, and they still hurt like hell. However, this time he had to be more careful because of the girl he was carrying. And he said he'd never be a hero again.


	34. Chapter 34

March 30, 1986

By the time the ambulance arrived the fire had spread to most of the park. Although the fire department had been battling the flames, it was to no avail. Claire had wondered if maybe it was something to do with the particular flames that the sniper, whoever the hell he was, had used. Yes, they still had to find out who the bastard was, but there would be more time for that later.

Right now her main concern was the fact that Vi had been carted off in an ambulance over half an hour ago. The medics hadn't looked particularly hopeful, but at least they hadn't given a definite verdict. To her surprise they hadn't even looked at either her or Vi's costumes twice, only briefly looking at Kraken for confirmation. After they had gone she'd turned questioningly to him.

"I've got some contacts at the hospital," he said, "They're not affiliated with the cops, but believe me, they know to keep their mouths shut. The two of you'll be safe."

His reassurances hadn't comforted her. Still, she had had to be practical. Since then she'd snatched some jeans and a park t-shirt from the store. Claire had also had the foresight to take a park backpack to stuff her costume into it. Now she looked the perfect part of the confused but interested bystander. There were many of them and nothing made her stand out.

However, she hadn't heard anything about Vi. She sat down on a bench tiredly. Kraken had said he'd commandeer a squad car to get her there, but since then he had been pulled over by Lupo for a 'chat'. All there was for her to do now was wait, wait and pray that her best friend would be alright.

.

.

.

"What happened here Torrenton?" Lupo asked, lighting a cigarette.

Kraken winced, partly from irritation and partly from his burns.

"The investigation is ongoing," he said.

"Don't give me that shit," said Lupo, "What happened here?"

"Lupo-"

"Call me sir," he said, "There's a couple of ears around us."

He turned around to see Harris, staring at them suspiciously.

"Well **sir**," he said stiffly, "It appears that there was a little tussle with the Umbrella Academy. Nothing to be concerned about."

Lupo's cigarette stopped midway to his lips.

"Shit Havoc," he hissed, "What did you do?"

"Absolutely nothing."

He felt Lupo's eyes travel over his bruised, burnt, and bloody form. Then he gestured to the burning park.

"You call **that **nothing?!"

"I didn't do it," he said.

"It was either you or them and I'm inclined to think it was you. The Academy does some stupid shit, but they don't light amusement parks on fire."

"It appears that a third party was involved," Kraken said reluctantly.

"A third party?" asked Lupo, raising his eyebrow, "Who did you piss off this time?"

"It wasn't there for me," he said, "I'm inclined to think that it's Academy shit. He lit the place on fire to destroy evidence, I think."

"Where's he now?"

"…he won't be joining us."

Lupo sighed.

"I know you've picked up some useful police tactics and habits in the past few years," said Lupo, "But you fail to have realized that it's difficult to question people if you've cut their throats."

"He was shot, and not by me," he replied, "However, I did notice an odd tattoo of a snake on his forearm."

Something flickered in Lupo's eyes.

"Was the snake wrapped around an orb?" he asked.

"Yes, why?"

"Hm."

"Which means?"

"Let's just say if the guy who I think is involved is involved," Lupo said, "Then it changes the situation somewhat."

"How so?"

"It makes it worse," Lupo said, "Now, what about the girl your medics took away awhile ago?"

"Pardon?"

"Give me some credit," said Lupo, rolling his eyes, "I'm not stupid. A girl was carried out of this parking lot about thirty minutes ago. Reports are sketchy but it appears that she was in critical condition. Now, I'm going to ask you again; who was she?"

Kraken shrugged.

"A bystander who got caught in the crossfire," he lied smoothly, "Speaking of which, her friend is trying to get to the hospital to see her. Permission to give her a ride? I need to go there anyway for the burns."

"Did you get those getting her?"

"Hm?"

"You've got lots of blood on you that doesn't look like it's your own," said Lupo impatiently, "Did you get that while rescuing her?"

"Your powers of perception never cease to amaze me."

Lupo took his sunglasses off and he stared thoughtfully at Kraken.

"Tell me," he said, "If I asked you a question, say, how much you knew about the Dayton girls and just what the hell they were doing here tonight with the Academy, then what would you say to me?"

Kraken carefully wooden.

"I would say nothing," he said.

"Nothing?"

"Reason being," he said, "I'd be too busy ripping out your spine to say anything."

Ash fell from Lupo's cigarette.

"I expect you want to get to the hospital," Lupo said nonchalantly, "Check on the girl that you saved, make sure she's alright. You'd best bring her friend along, make sure that she doesn't get herself into trouble. There's a squad car parked a little away from the others. It's Harris'. Trust me, he 'won't' mind if you take it."

Kraken nodded before walking away. He'd always known that Lupo had a good head on his shoulders. He looked over at Torpere who was sitting on a bench and staring at the ground.

"Hey," he said, "Tor, let's get moving."

Torpere raised her red eyes up at him before getting to her feet unsteadily.


	35. Chapter 35

March 30, 1986

"How is she?" Claire asked.

Dr. Bryar looked at her oddly. He wasn't one of the medics who had attended Vi, but apparently he was also a part of Kraken's medical club. Good thing too because apparently he had some pull and some sort of dirt on the head physician. She vaguely remembered Kraken telling her it was something about lampshades and a bachelor party.

"Stable but impossible," Dr. Bryar said tiredly as he went through his clipboard.

Claire felt her heart sink.

"…impossible?" she whispered.

"Meaning?" growled Kraken.

Yes, she'd almost forgotten about him. After he'd been treated for his burns he'd taken to sitting on one of the waiting chairs and smoking cigarette after cigarette. It appeared that none of the hospital workers were brave enough to tell him it was a no smoking area.

"Impossible as in…it's going to sound weird," Dr. Bryar said, "But she hasn't actually been shot."

"So all the blood was just my imagination, was it?" Kraken asked sarcastically.

"I doubt you imagine anything," snorted Dr. Bryar, "What I should have said was that she hadn't been **medically** shot. When the medics picked her up they reported blood and gunshot wounds. But, by the time they started performing emergency operations on her, they weren't there. The blood on her…outfit had disappeared and we tested her and found out that there was no blood loss. It's impossible…but it happened."

Despite the ominous tone in the doctor's voice, and the fact that something this odd should've had her worried, Claire felt hope rise in her.

"Then, she's alright?" she asked.

Again Dr. Bryar looked at her oddly, but this time with sympathy.

"I'm sorry," he said, "but she slipped into a coma. We think it's from carbon monoxide poisoning, but we're not one hundred percent sure. It doesn't sound like carbon monoxide, but that's really all we have to go on. Was she on any sort of medication that might clash with anesthesia or any other pain medication?"

"…no," Claire said weakly, "Not that I know of."

"Do you know that for a fact?" he asked sharply.

Claire didn't answer. He looked between the two of them before letting the pages of his clipboard fall back onto their stand.

"Listen," he said, "I don't have the faintest clue what happened tonight and I don't want to know. However, that girl could die if she doesn't wake up into the next twenty four hours. Her parents need to be informed. So inform them!"

Kraken glared up at him as he took another deep breath of his cigarette.

"I've respected the fact that you've kept your mouth shut, but that doesn't mean you can give us any sort of advice you-" he started.

"Yes," she said, "Of course."

Kraken turned to look at her, as did the doctor.

"You're right," she said, "I…I'll call her mother soon."

Dr. Bryar looked at her suspiciously but said nothing.

"Also," he said, "For something like a coma…it's different, see? Generally we can get you in and out in two or three hours. We don't know how long she's going to take though. We need some sort of insurance otherwise someone's going to notice and then we're all fucked. I need a name."

For a minute she thought that Kraken was going to tell him to stick it where the sun didn't shine but she thought better. After all, she had almost been expecting this question. Although her mind was turning to porridge due to lack of sleep, she could at least figure this out.

"Claire Smith," she said.

Once again Dr. Bryar looked at her suspiciously, but once more he kept his mouth shut.

"Thank you," he said, "I'll come and find you if they're any new developments."

He walked away and Claire collapsed onto a chair. She felt Kraken's eyes on her.

"Claire Smith," he said, "Nice job. Smith's a common name so it'll take them awhile to find, but we need to figure out-"

"It's a real name," Claire said blankly, "I didn't think a fake one would work in this situation."

There was a pause.

"She never struck me as a Claire."

"That's because she isn't," she answered, "It's my name."

There was another pause. All these silences were beginning to get on her nerves.

"Why?" he asked.

"I have insurance, she doesn't," Claire shrugged.

"No," he said, "I kinda figured that. Why tell me your name though? You could've just lied."

"Oh?" she asked, "I did tell you, didn't I? Hmmmmm…well, if you were going to rat us out you would've done so by now. Besides, you really did save…Nix's life. She'll tell you her name when she's ready I believe. She trusted you though, and right now it looks like I couldn't worse than follow her example."

She felt him staring at her.

"Trust," he muttered, "Always being given it. Still don't have a fucking clue why."

He smashed his cigarette into the top of a nearby trashcan. Taking out another one from his fast depleting packet he lit it and put it to his lips.

"You don't have to answer this question," he said as he got ready to inhale, "To be perfectly honest you've already told me a shitload. And, Smith is a common name so it's probably just my infamous paranoia. I was wondering though, would the names of your parents happen to be-?"

"Patrick and Allison?" asked Claire tiredly, "Yeah, they are."

Kraken choked on the cigarette and gave several racking coughs.

"Hiya uncle," she giggled, suddenly finding this very funny.

He looked at her like a strange and dangerous new species of piranha. She shrugged it away.

"Heaven forbid you ever have kids if that's how you look at your niece," she remarked brightly, "But don't worry. I'm not your sister's kid, even though I'm her daughter. She's a bitch, he's a bastard, my being a superhero has absolutely nothing to do with either of them. Hell, she thought my wounds came from an abusive boyfriend."

Sighing Claire unfolded herself and got up laboriously.

"Where are you going?" he asked, still looking at her like she was a piranha.

"Isn't it obvious?" she shot back, "I've got to go call Nix's mom. She deserves to be with her daughter in case…in case…in case the worst happens."

He nodded curtly as she made her way down the hall to the payphones. Unbeknownst to them, Dr. Bryar had not trusted Claire's reassurances that they would in fact call Vi's mother. He had instead taken the matter into his own hands. So a call had been sent out, giving all the details of the patient. That call, however, had not been made to Mary Hart. It had instead been made to Allison Smith.


	36. Chapter 36

March 30, 1986

Claire sat next to Vi's hospital bed. The doctors had just decided that they had no idea what they were doing, something Claire had suspected for awhile now. So they had put her in the intensive care unit and kept her as stable as possible. Then they had opened her room up to visitors. Almost immediately she had gone in, with Kraken close behind her.

They hadn't said a word since they had come in. Neither of them were talking right now either, so the only sound was the beep of the heart monitors. Claire had found a convenient chair, but Kraken was leaning up against a wall near the door. Old habits seemed to die hard, and he was still looking at her like she was a piranha. At least he had stopped smoking.

She'd called Vi's mother some time beforehand. Due to the fact that Vi's house was at least an hour and a half away from the hospital they'd have some time before she arrived. They'd have to clear out before she came, or at least Kraken would have to in order to avoid questions. He himself had suggested this, and Claire would have to admit that he'd look a little weird there. For this purpose he'd installed a guard on the main entrance and hooked up a radio to alert them for when she came in.

He'd also arranged for the police not to question her about what her daughter had been doing at the park for at least a few hours. That would be a small mercy in a night that would probably hold no other form of comfort for her. From what she had seen Vi was her mother's world. If the worst happened, then she doubted the mother would outlast the child by much.

Tapping her fingers against the rail of Vi's bed she breathed out. For several hours her friend had essentially been comatose. To Claire though, she looked like she was sleeping, like she'd wake up any minute. That is, of course, if you ignored the oxygen mask they had placed over her face and the five IVs they had put into her arm. It was something that Claire was trying very hard to do. So far she was failing.

Since childhood Vi had been her one and only friend. When the shit in her family had gone down she had been a tower of strength who was always there to lend an ear. Now she might be dying because of Claire. She tilted her head back to avoid crying. Once she thought she'd sufficiently mastered herself she leaned forward a little.

"Come on," she whispered, "Wake up. They're still shitloads of asses out there waiting for you to kick 'em. Come on."

There was no response, which was unsurprising as Claire really hadn't thought there'd be. Still…she had hoped.

"Hey," grunted Kraken, "The radio call came in."

Claire nodded. She hadn't even heard that, but she doubted she would've heard a tornado.

"I should probably meet her," she said, getting to her feet unsteadily, "She might need someone to…to…you know."

"Not really," he said, "But I see what you mean. Go on."

Walking past him Claire rubbed her eyes. So much had happened on a night that had started out like any other. She'd wrangled up bad guys, been abducted, and now Vi was lying in a hospital in critical condition. She choked back tears again as she took her final labored steps out of the room. Would this night ever end?

Kraken watched her go before uncertainly approaching Vi's bed. He paused for a minute, scratching his five o'clock shadow. Kraken had never had a way with words, so figuring out just what he wanted to say at that moment was more than just a little difficult. The fact that he wanted to say anything at all was more than a little difficult for him to comprehend. Finally he gave up on eloquence.

"You fucking fight this," he said, "You broke your own damn arm once to keep yourself safe, and this is a lot bigger than that. You're a fucking fighter so fight like your life depends on it, 'cause it does."

Feeling odd he walked out of the room and down the hall, wincing at the pain from his burns.

.

.

.

Mary Hart sat on the edge of her daughter's bed. Every now and then she absently brushed imaginary hair away from Vi's face. Her eyes were closed right now, concealing the beautiful gray eyes. They were light and dancing when she was happy, and coal black when she was furious. Just like her father, whom she'd inherited them from.

So much about Vi was like her father, but at the same time she was something completely different that had crashed into her life. She had saved her really. Without Vi she probably would've killed herself a long time ago. If Vi didn't make it through the night it was looking like a tempting option.

She was alone in the room; Claire had left some time ago. How long ago it had been, she couldn't tell. All she could tell was that it was approaching dawn now. Either way it had been like Claire could sense that Mary really wanted to be alone. All in all Mary was more than grateful for that.

She shook her head. That girl had pleaded with her, saying that it had been her fault Vi had been there and she was so sorry. Miserably Mary had told her that it wasn't her fault at all. She hadn't added the real thought in her head, that this had been coming for years. She'd felt it in her gut ever since Vi had been born that something was going to happen to take her away from her. She had hoped and prayed but it appeared that death followed her like a plague.

Once again she brushed something that wasn't there away from her daughter's face. For years she'd been having nightmares about losing the last thing in her life, the only thing she had. They all started out the same; pleasantly. She'd always be with Vi's father in the garage where he'd work on his bikes.

She'd be sitting on a counter and he'd be half-covered with grease and submerged beneath a machine. He'd be laughing at something she'd said, and she'd be laughing too. Suddenly he'd roll out from under it and remind her that she'd said that she had something that she wanted to show him.

For a minute she'd be confused and a touch flustered. Then she'd remember. Vi, yes, she'd always wanted to show him Vi. He'd love his daughter, that was something she'd always known. Mary had always wanted to show him. Now she had the chance, and she'd be damned if she was going to miss it.

So she'd cheerfully get up and go upstairs to Vi's room. The house changed over the years, sometimes it was an apartment or a rented floor. However, it was always where they were living at the time of the dream. She'd look in Vi's room but Vi wouldn't be there. Puzzled she'd go downstairs and tell him that she couldn't find her.

He'd sigh and shake his head. Then he'd tell her that she had to find her. Suddenly he'd be gone and she'd be searching throughout the house, calling her daughter's name. Frantically she'd pull open drawers and search in impossible places. Whenever Mary finally did wake-up she'd always be sweating and crying.

Terrified she'd always get up and go to Vi's room, just to make sure. Vi had always been there, sleeping quietly. Over the years the dreams had decreased but they had never fully gone away. Mary had thought that they were warning her, or perhaps just reminding her that something this good was not going to last. Either way it was coming true now and there was nothing she could do about it.

She moved her hand away from Vi's face. Sliding it down she gripped Vi's hand tightly. It felt cold and limp. Repressing tears she managed;

"Please baby, you were always so strong. Please."

After that there was no way to hold back the tears that came thick and fast.


	37. Chapter 37

March 30, 1986

"Repeat that," Jormungand said slowly, facing away from a rather nervous employee.

"Kent's dead," the unhappy messenger said, "It appears that he was shot several times, we think with his own gun."

"Dammit!" snarled Jormungand, banging on the wall nearest to him.

The messenger winced as he heard the sound and his eyes dilated in terror at the large dent his boss' fist had made.

"Any news of those two bitches?" he snapped.

"Um, well," stuttered the man, "Not necessarily. However, a girl was taken into an ambulance. It appeared that she had been shot several times and was in critical condition. Another girl and a police officer are reported to have followed her to the City Hospital."

Jormungand cocked his head.

"I'd call that news," he said, "How's the injured one?"

"Apparently completely healed," the man said, "All of her wounds seemed to close up and her blood loss disappeared. She's in a coma but other than that she's made a complete recovery."

Jormungand turned around suddenly.

"Are you sure about that?" he hissed excitedly.

"Yes," he said, surprised.

Once more Jormungand turned away. No, it couldn't be her. That idea had ended with another headstrong bitch and a fast running river nearly two decades ago. Still, if there was one thing in the world he didn't believe in, it was coincidences.

"You know," he said, "I was going to rip out your tongue originally, but this is very good news. Very good news indeed. So good that it cancels out the original message. Try not to be the next one to bring me bad news though. I'm a great believer in the kill the messenger policy."

The man's eyes had practically rolled back into his head in fear as he nodded. Jormungand smirked in satisfaction. His reputation proceeded him.

"Now, I want men sent out to the hospital, just to watch for now. Take most of them and keep me updated. I'll give orders when the time comes," he said.

Nodding again the man turned to go.

"Oh, and one more thing," Jormungand said nonchalantly.

The man stopped in mid-step.

"Bring me the files on the Baldor Project."

.

.

.

On her hospital Vi stirred. It wasn't a big movement and couldn't really be called such; it barely qualified as a twitch after all. Still, it was movement, and it had been occurring with some regularity. Again regularity was probably the wrong word for it. More specifically it occurred whenever someone would speak to her. On some level or another the words registered in her brain.

Other things were registering, things she wasn't really consciously aware of. To be perfectly frank, she wasn't actually consciously aware of anything. The things that did make any sort of impression were vague and odd. Things were still filtering through her mind though. Once more, Vi stirred.

.

.

.

_Vi was more than just a little confused. Only minutes ago she'd been being carried through hell itself, and now everything was black and empty. She frowned as she thought about it. Had it been hell? Of course it had, there had been blood and flames and screams. However, she vaguely remembered some sort of park though. There was a Ferris wheel, and there were children with balloons and there had definitely been a security bike. If that was hell, then hell was getting pretty damn weird. _

_Still, if it had been hell than her situation would make more sense. It would mean that she was in limbo which would explain the complete lack of anything but darkness. Now that she thought about it that really didn't make any sense. You didn't go from hell to limbo, did you? Vi shook her head in an attempt to clear it._

_As she did so she realized that she was in her Nix uniform. However, one vital thing was missing; her mask. Had she lost her damn mask? Shit. That thing had taken her a whole day of hard sewing and pricked fingers to make and now she had lost the damn thing. Vi looked around on the ground as though it would reveal it._

_The thought came to her that the mask wasn't really important. It was just a little thing really and the only reason it had been so hard to make was because she didn't use patterns. In all honesty it didn't even cover her face that much and she had often wondered why the hell heroes even bothered with it. Did it do something to the photo match-ups or something like that?_

_Just as the doubts entered her mind the answer did as well. The mask was a symbol that set you apart from the rest of the world. It said that you weren't a bystander; you weren't like the people you passed on the street. It put you into something approaching a fraternity of people who were, for lack of a better word since she'd never been particularly good with words, __**different**__. _

_She vaguely wondered if that was what went wrong with the Umbrella Academy. They'd worn masks their whole lives which they'd known deep down had made them different. As such they'd started thinking and being different. No wonder they were all so messed-up, those uncles and mother of Claire's, forced for eighteen years of their lives to be different and their minds had adapted in self-defense._

_Then there was Vanya, the one who didn't have to wear a mask as much as the rest of them. She'd been surrounded by people who thought and acted differently all her life. Maybe she'd driven that damned car into the other one as a way out. Vi doubted that she actually had of course, none of her conspiracy theories said__** that**__ and besides, she'd had that thing going on with Kraken. Still, it must've driven her crazy before her death. _

_In another futile attempt to clear her head Vi shook it. She needed to look for her mask, needed it if she was going to rescue Claire. If of course, she wasn't in limbo or hell or any of those places. _

"_Come on," she heard Claire's voice whisper, "Wake up. They're still shitloads of asses out there waiting for you to kick 'em. Come on."_

"_Huh?" Vi said aloud, looking around._

_There was nothing there but the darkness and once more she started to wonder where she was. She had rescued Claire, hadn't she? Well, not exactly but she'd seen to it that she was free. Vi had seen her from the platform that she'd been standing on with Kraken. Wait a minute…what the hell was she doing on that platform?_

_A few more memories rushed into her mind. Yes, she'd been fighting some snake guy. Then he'd shot her…he'd fucking shot her and lit the fucking place on fire! Yeah, but she'd shot him too so they were even but…but this did mean she was dead. She couldn't have survived those bullet wounds, not to mention the blood loss._

_Dejected she sat down on the solid darkness. That was it then; limbo probably. What did one do in limbo? Probably you weren't allowed to kick anyone's ass so Claire's message didn't make much sense. Oh well, it didn't matter anymore. What did matter was that she was dead before her sixteenth birthday, dead before she could get her license for her motorcycle and not have to drive around at night. She was dead before she saw Claire resolve things with her mother, dead before she really knew anything about her father. _

"_You fucking fight this," another voice said, "You broke your own damn arm once to keep yourself safe, and this is a lot bigger than that. You're a fucking fighter so fight like your life depends on it, 'cause it does."_

_Vi sat up straighter. The voice sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. It was male definitely but…she didn't quite…An odd thought creeped into her brain. Maybe…well…it would be silly…but just as she thought about her father she'd heard that. Maybe it was something. What was he talking about though?_

"_Please baby, you were always so strong," her mother's voice said, as if to emphasis her father's point, "Please."_

_Their words made her doubt her conviction of being dead. What if she'd gotten to medics in time? What if they'd managed to fix her up? Was she just unconscious and hallucinating? Or was it both? Either way nobody had the right to fuck with her like this. Give back as good as you get, that was what she'd lived her life by. Angrily she got up and clenched her fists._

"_I wanna go home," she said, her voice low._

_When there was no response she yelled;_

"_I WANNA GO HOME!"_

_She knew she was just like a child as she screamed up to the heavens but it didn't matter anymore. _

"_You take me home or tell me I'm dead right now! Can't be both, so tell me which the fuck it is!" she demanded, punching the air._

_To her complete surprise her fist hit a wall. She hit it again and felt it crack under the pressure. More determined she started kicking at it._

"_I-WANT-TO," she shouted, punctuating each word with a kick, "-GO-HOME!"_

_The wall crumbled and Vi put her hands up to shield her eyes from the white light that poured in._

.

.

.

With a gasp of air Vi's heart monitors beeped loudly. Mary Hart's head shot up in time to see her daughter turn her head turn weakly towards her.

"Hey Mom," she said faintly.

Sobbing with relief and joy Mary threw her arms around her.


	38. Chapter 38

March 30, 1986

Claire opened up a magazine in the waiting room. It felt like days had passed since she had last been in Vi's room with her mother. As of yet she didn't know how she was, and anyway she figured the two of them could use some alone time. She sighed. Once again she asked herself if this night would ever end, and if so, when?

She turned her mind back to the magazine. As she flipped through the pages all of the articles seemed irritatingly familiar. Turning it around she looked at the cover. As soon as she saw the title she realized that she had read this magazine once already…no…make that three times. Alright, now she was losing it.

Snorting in disgust with herself she put it down and reached for another one. This time she was careful to read the title first. _Times: A Look At the Kennedy Legacy. _Read it. _Fashion: Is the Fro For You?_ Read it. _Parenting: Top Communication Tips_. Read it. The hospital waiting room seemed to have absolutely no idea of good reading material, and Claire had been there a very long time.

Looking around she noticed that most people had brought books. That was something to file away for future reference. Then again, she'd never actually planned on coming to the hospital tonight, or was it today? It must be the thirtieth already, it must be. Otherwise she really would go mad.

Getting up she walked to the large full length window that overlooked the City where the sun was starting to rise. The hospital was in a nice part of town, the part that was essentially shielded from all the shit she had dealt with in Dayton. It had been a large task; both she and Vi had admitted that before starting. They had known that they would have to pay a price in time and effort. However, neither of them had realized that it might cost one of them their life as well.

Tiredly she let her forehead rest against the cool glass. It was only then that she realized just how hot her forehead was. Maybe she was coming down with a fever. Kraken had said she didn't look so good before he'd gone off and tried to hold the cops at bay for a little longer. Claire flinched at the memory. She just wished he'd lose the goddamned piranha look. When all of this was over she'd smack it off his face for him.

When this was over. When would it be over? Would she even like the outcome? Even if Vi did somehow survive, how would that feel, to know that she had almost gotten her friend killed for the rest of her life? Sure, Mrs. Hart had told her it wasn't her fault. In fact, she had seemed almost resigned in a way. She also knew that if Vi survived, again if was the terrible word that it all hinged on, she would forgive her too. Vi was just that person.

Yet, it would be her fault. It would be her fault for expending too much energy and getting captured. If she'd never gotten captured then Vi would never have gotten shot or carbon monoxide poisoning or whatever the fuck was doing this to her friend right now. She also knew that she would anever be able to express this in words.

Sure, she could try to tell Vi about it. Vi would just reiterate that she forgave her or say that it wasn't her fault. She would try but she wouldn't understand and Claire needed to be understood. Yet, her web of people she could talk to had dwindled to Vi and Kraken and Claire would rather run barefoot over hot coals than talk to her uncle about her feelings.

Softly she banged her head up against the window. She wasn't even sixteen yet. She should be worrying about getting her permit and her grades, which had recently taken a slight dive, right now instead of life or death guilt. There should be some boy she should be worried about or aspirations to college.

Of course she didn't **want **to be worrying about those things. She didn't want to be like those other airheaded girls who giggled and tried out for the cheerleading squad. Even if she hadn't assumed the mask of Torpere she wouldn't want that. Yet, was feeling like this better than being stupid? She'd probably rather pick being stupid, but then she'd be a completely different person.

If she wasn't her then she'd never thought up being a superhero. Admittedly it had caused most of her troubles, but at the same time it had saved her from the mire she had been sinking into at home. It saved her from having to concentrate on a mother who had betrayed her and made her see the world as a cold and dangerous place. She longed for the days before she had that knowledge, when her mother was still a beautiful princess who was worth faking sick to stay at home with.

Once more she wished for someone to talk to. She'd talked to Vi so much about her mother, even about her father, that it made her head hurt. It hadn't helped anything though except making Vi worry about her. She wondered if this was how it had started with her mother's family, no one wanting to say anything for fear of hurting the others or scorn and then eventually withdrawing so deep into themselves no one could get them out. From being withdrawn they might've become the bitter adults they were today.

Pulling her head away from the glass she looked over the City again. She didn't want that to happen to her, she **couldn't **let that happen to her. That was why she had told Vi everything, probably why she had told Kraken her real name. She needed these connections right now more than anything else and she couldn't let them go. Yet, she would have to, just this once.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but we need proof of I.D-"

"How about I break that nose of yours and have that pretty young surgeon you've been eyeing for the past ten minutes fix it for you?!" said a snarly, near-hysterical voice.

Claire turned around to see an orderly arguing with a woman some distance away. She couldn't see who they were but it was obvious that the orderly looked uncomfortable. She didn't blame him. The woman sounded like she was ready to kill.

"Ma'm," he said, his voice warbling only slightly, "If you insist then I'm going to have to call security-"

"Listen asshole," the woman said defiantly, "If you call security then I am going to dissolve into helpless tears and say how mean you've been to me and won't let me see my daughter even though she's in the damn ICU. Now I am a very good actress and that little episode wouldn't look good at all on your permanent record, now would it?"

The orderly turned pale. If this woman wasn't allowed to see this daughter she was probably going to start World War III. Impressive. Claire took a few steps forward. She still wanted to keep her distance, just so she didn't look like she was eavesdropping, even though she was.

"Alright," the orderly said hurriedly, "Now, uh, what did you say your daughter's name was again?"

"Claire Smith," she declared.

Claire felt her legs turn into jelly. Now that she was near enough she could see that the woman, her eyes red-rimmed from crying, had purple hair.

"Mom?" she asked weakly.

Her mother turned around slowly and for a moment just stared at her daughter. Neither of them said a word. Neither of them moved, and neither of them even noticed the orderly scamper off.

"They, they called me," her mother said, stammering over the words, "They said you might die and I thought…I just knew I had to…I…I just…"

Claire watched as her mother burst into tears. Part of her screamed to get far away from this woman, that it was just another trick, another lie. Yet, she knew the tears were real. The part of her that admitted this told her that maybe she had been wrong. Maybe her mother had been as scared as her that night and loved her and couldn't lose her. Maybe she had hated her all these months for nothing.

She felt the second part flood through like ice, taking over her thoughts and actions. Tentatively she took a few more steps until she was only a few inches away from her mother. Then, still hesitantly, she wrapped her arms around her.

"It's okay," she whispered, "I'm alright. I'm here."

And the sun came up.


	39. Chapter 39

March 30, 1986

At long last Jormungand finished the last page of the project finals. Yes, everything was in place. He smirked to himself. Everything always turned out right for him in the end. Now all that was left was some careful orchestration. Delicately he slid the page back into the folder and closed it. Then he reached out and grabbed the phone that linked him with his people at the hospital.

"How's it going?" he asked.

"It looks like she's woken up," the man on the other end grunted.

"Excellent," Jormungand replied, "We can move in faster than we thought. Go now."

There was a slight pause.

"Uh, sir?"

"What?" he snapped irritably.

"There're people with her," he said, "We think it's her mother, and we suspect that the electric girl is around here too. There's also about ten million cops milling about waiting to question her. If that's what you want then I'll go ahead…but it's just a lot of witnesses."

"How can she possibly have a mother!?" howled Jormungand.

"I…I…I'm not sure what the question is sir," the man on the other side said meekly.

Growling in frustration Jormungand forcefully traced a pattern with his fingernail on the desk. A screeching sound was heard as the pattern was etched into the wood. Oh yes, things just had to go wrong right now.

"Wait until she's alone then," he said through gritted teeth, "Or until there's only one person with her. And remember this; fuck this up and I will rip your intestines into ribbons."

"Yes…yes sir."

.

.

.

The door slammed open and Vi smiled faintly at her friend. She only had a second to do this before Claire essentially tackled her, inasmuch as you can tackle someone sitting down. Vi's mother smiled from her position by the bed.

"Sick girl here!" moaned Vi painfully.

"Yeah," Claire said, releasing her, "Yeah, of course. It's just, we thought-"

"Never count me out," Vi said, "I'm a fucking fighter."

"Language," her mother admonished happily.

"Ah, fuck language," said Vi, "I'm alive."

Claire was inclined to agree with her.

"Now, if one of you could tell me exactly why I'm in the hospital," Vi said, "We can all be peachy here."

"You mean," Claire asked in shock, "You don't remember? The Amusement park?"

"What about it?" asked Vi back, "I haven't been there in like two years."

She was about to say something when Vi gave her a small wink. It then dawned on her that Vi's mother was still in the room.

"Maybe we should save this for later," said Claire weakly, once more impressed by her friend's conniving ways, "You just woke up."

"I woke up an hour ago," frowned Vi, "No one told you?"

Claire looked over at Mrs. Hart who shrugged helplessly.

"I'm sorry. We sent someone out to find you," she said, "but apparently they're either stupid or just incompetent."

"Apparently," Claire said, "But really, don't worry about it."

Smiling at her Mrs. Hart got up. She kissed Vi's forehead before laying a hand on Claire's shoulder.

"There are about five hundred cops who are going to be very disappointed when I tell them I know absolutely nothing," she said, "So they'll probably call you soon. However, I'll hold them off for a little bit."

"But-" Claire started.

"She's alive," interrupted Mrs. Hart, "I'll be running off relief for at least five years. Right now I think just the two of you need to talk now."

Nodding quietly to herself Vi's mother left the room.

"Isn't she amazing?" Vi asked distantly, "I'm a terrible daughter for doing this, I know."

"Nah," Claire said, sitting down, "You're not. I'm the terrible daughter. I gave them my name at the hospital desk and they called my mom. She was just…crying out of sheer relief at seeing me alive and well I just…ugh."

Vi nodded, smiling.

"Good for you," she said, "Speaking of your family, how're you? You're not injured or anything?"

"I'm fine," she said, "Kraken's the one who got burns getting you out of that hellhole."

"Ah yes," asked Vi, "where's the good old one-man SWAT team?"

"Covering up with the cops," she replied, "I think he was worried about you."

"Hah," Vi snorted, "Day Kraken shows emotion'll be the day the Umbrella Academy gets back together."

"I think he was though. Upset I mean."

"Yeah, well, yeah," said Vi, "Nice of my childhood hero…if he was…Now, I'm not sure but could you tell me if you know who that fucker was who shot me and where the hell the injuries are? I had to do a lot to make sure my mom believed I didn't remember a thing and one of them was not asking about the bullets."

"We know nothing," Claire said, "Sorry about that. We just rushed you to the hospital and…yeah."

Vi shrugged as though she had sort of expected it. For a moment she was silent, tapping her fingers on the rails to her bed. Finally she said;

"If I tell you a secret; promise not to tell anyone?"

"That's kind of the point of secrets."

"Promise?"

The eagerness in Vi's voice unnerved Claire.

"Yeah, promise."

"Alright," Vi said, sitting up, "while I was out…I saw something."

Claire forced a nervous grin.

"Was it the white light at the end of the tunnel?"

"No, no," said Vi, waving away her friend's words, "There wasn't any light, since I couldn't see, but I heard you talking to me. Did you remind me just how much ass there was left for me to kick in the world?"

Surprised, Claire leaned forward.

"Yeah," she said, "but…I've heard about people hearing things in comas before…so I don't think you should worry-"

"I'm not worried," Vi said impatiently, "I actually think it's kind of neat. But…someone else told me something…and…I think it was my Dad. I think he was talking to me."

She shifted in her seat, feeling uncomfortable.

"I know it sounds nuts," said Vi, seeing her friend's reaction, "But it just felt like that…like that was what was going on. Call it a near death-experience or what, but I just feel like he could've been talking to me or something."

"It's…possible," Claire said slowly, "What did he say? If you don't mind my asking."

"Not really," Vi replied, "Something about me being a fighter, breaking my own arm, and that I could pull through. He swore a lot too."

For a minute Claire was inclined to believe that there was some truth in her friend's words. Then she remembered hearing words Kraken had whispered as she went out of the room, and without thinking she blurted out;

"That sounds a lot like what Kraken said."

Aghast she shut her mouth. However, she couldn't take the words back. Vi's eyes clouded with disappointment, but were quickly dominated by embarrassment.

"Feel like such a fucking idiot," she murmured.

"I could be wrong, I didn't really hear-"

"No," Vi interrupted, "Forget it. Just forget it."

Claire would've said more, but at that moment there was a quiet tapping on the glass door. She looked around to see Vi's mother gesturing helplessly to the cops.

"Looks like the fuzz," Vi said with fake cheerfulness, "Got a good lie ready?"

Seeing the thinly disguised hurt Claire cursed herself for the world's biggest idiot. Another more impatient rapping revealed a gruff looking cop standing next to Vi's mother. Sighing she got up.

"Well," she said, "Not a bad one anyway."


	40. Chapter 40

March 30, 1986

"So why don't you tell us what happened?" asked Lupo as Body took out his pencil and pad of paper, "From the beginning."

Claire fidgeted on the cold waiting room chair, trying to look uncomfortable. It wasn't a hard act, especially when Vi's mother was still in the room. She wished for a minute that her own mother was there instead of down stairs filling out the insurance forms for Vi. For a minute she smiled as she remembered how her mother had vowed to take care of it all, seeing as the life insurance had been bought with Patrick's money anyway.

However, she was such a good liar herself she might see through Claire's, and that couldn't happen in a room full of policemen. It was actually from her that she'd gotten this idea in the first place.

"For the past few months," she began tentatively, "I've been going out with…let's just call him John. He…"

She looked down like she was having difficulty talking about this. Guilt flooded her as Vi's mother put a protective hand on her shoulder.

"He hit me," she said blandly, "More than a few times…almost like some sort of sick daily routine."

As she spoke she pulled back her sleeve to show one of the bruises on her arms she'd gotten from the Academy. She was surprised just how purple it was. There were a few murmurings from the policemen and she felt Mrs. Hart's grip on her shoulder tighten.

"Things got really bad," she continued, choking on the words, "A few days ago I plucked up the courage to break it off with him. We were going to the Amusement Park tonight…last night actually; he never wanted to be seen in the day with me. Said…never mind what he said. Since he got violent over nothing regularly and this time it was actually something I…I didn't want to go alone. So I begged Vi to come with me, but not to tell her mom. I…I didn't really want anyone to know about it."

There was a long pause and Claire forced a few fake tears from her eyes. She wished Vi's mom would stop being so damned supportive. It just made things worse

"If you could give us a real name we could-" started Lupo.

"No!" said Claire violently, "It's over, okay!? I fucking broke it off and then I wanted to be by myself for awhile and Vi left and now she's in the damn hospital so just fucking leave me alone!"

Lupo looked taken back as Claire burst into what she hoped looked like angry tears.

"Try being a little less emotional," he said irritably.

"Maybe you should stop bothering her," Vi's mother snapped, "She's not even sixteen dammit and tonight has been hard enough for her without insensitive idiots like you bombarding her with questions."

"Lady," snapped Lupo, "One of my officers risked his life pulling your daughter out of that building so the least you could do is show a little less contempt for the police force!"

Vi's mother paled.

"I didn't know that someone did that," she said, "Is he alright?"

"Yes," Lupo said, "He's fine, just a few burns. But as I was saying-"

"It doesn't matter," Mrs. Hart said, suddenly becoming angry again, "Just leave her alone."

"We-"

"Does she have to say anything else?" interrupted Vi's mother as she turned to Body.

The chimp chewed on his pencil nervously for a minute before saying;

"Legally, no. But-"

"Then you have no right to detain her," she said.

For a minute Lupo and Vi's mother were caught in a stare down and from where Claire was sitting she could clearly see the look in Lupo's eyes. It looked like he'd happily murder her. Yet, one of his eyes was twitching. To her surprise, he was the first to back down.

"Fine," he snapped.

Vi's mother nodded as she helped Claire up.

"One more thing," she said, "This officer. Where is he? In the very least I'd like to thank him."

Warning bells went off in Claire's mind as Lupo replied shortly;

"Waiting room down the hall. He's already been treated for his burns."

Vi's mother nodded as she pulled Claire along the hallway and out of the earshot of the officers.

"You should go downstairs," she said, "Your mother will be wondering where you are."

"I think I'll go with you for awhile," she said, almost panicked, "There's a shortcut downstairs around that area anyway."

"How do you know that?" Vi's mother frowned.

Inwardly Claire cursed. When she got nervous and panicked her lies became shit.

"I've been pacing these halls for hours," she said, trying to inject a little humor.

Apparently it worked because Mrs. Hart nodded and took her down the hall. As they walked Claire's mind whirred away. Maybe she should make a hand motion to Kraken to indicate who this woman was. Or perhaps she should just introduce them. No, she couldn't introduce them; she'd never seen him before. Wait, the official story was that he'd driven her there, so she must know him.

God, she hadn't slept all night and now she was confused as hell. Before she'd been running on a mixture of fear-induced adrenaline and now she was crashing and burning horribly fast, much too fast for safety or convenience sake. Why couldn't she have gotten some sleep instead of reading those damned magazines?

Too much was going on and her feet were too damned unsteady for her own good. She bumped into a man carrying a large bag; she could only assume that he was a doctor going out on a call. He dropped his bag with a metallic clunk. He cursed, looked up at her, and then shook his head like it wasn't worth it. It probably wasn't. She soon forgot about him as they neared the end of the hall and Claire's wits.

All too soon they reached the waiting room and Claire pushed the door open. It was empty, except for Kraken's figure smoking a cigarette in the corner.

"Heard about your friend," he said casually, "Good for her."

He took off his sunglasses and sighed. Claire tried to tell him about Mrs. Hart but she could already hear the footsteps behind her. Before she knew it she was already in the room. He turned around she started to make a few vague attempts at a hand motion that would warn him, but she was stopped dead by the events that happened next.

The first thing that happened was that she could've sworn time disappeared. Air also vanished and was replaced by an odd, thick, sluggish material that no one could move through. As if in slow motion Kraken's eyebrows furrowed in shock and his mouth opened uselessly. His grip on his cigarette faltered and she watched it as it fell slowly to the floor, the tip still glowing red hot. It was like he'd seen a ghost.

Somehow, with an amount of colossal effort, she managed to turn her head to the side to see Mrs. Hart. All the color had leeched out of her face and she'd gone rigid. Her eyes were wide and Claire wondered if she had stopped breathing. In fact, she wondered if she was breathing or hell, if anyone anywhere was breathing.

Once more exerting more effort than she thought possible she turned back to Kraken who was simply staring. His mouth opened a few more times before one word made it through;

"Vanya?"


	41. Chapter 41

March 30, 1986

At that word the sluggishness that had inhabited the air dissipitated and things moved quite quickly indeed. Claire saw Mrs. Hart's eyes roll to the back of her head before her legs gave out from under her. She moved to intercept her and was then reminded painfully of the fact that she was incredibly weak from sleep. So in the end two people fell to the floor instead of one.

Once she had managed to pull herself up she realized that Vi's mother had fainted. Pushing the fact that very odd things were happening all around her out of her mind she got to work. A hand applied to the forehead quickly revealed that she was as cold as ice. She knew shit about medicine, but she had a feeling that that was bad.

"I think you should get a doctor," she mumbled, "Looks like V-Nix's mom is out for the count."

There was no response. Wondering if he'd even heard her in the first place she turned around irritably. At first it looked like Kraken was still staring, the only thing that had changed were that his eyes had shifted down so he could look at her still form. She watched as the mask of incredulity slowly eroded into blinding rage.

"Claire," he said, shocking her by calling her by her name for the first time, "Leave."

Her feet ached to comply, his eyes were betraying a hate she hadn't even seen when he faced Spaceboy. She'd have to be quick.

"Alright," she said, swallowing, "That…that's fair 'nough. But I can't do this by myself, kinda weak right now if you didn't notice. If you'll just help me get her on a bench or something, I think there's one in the hall-"

"No," Kraken said, struggling to keep his tone under control, "You leave, just you. As quickly as possible. Just go."

She shot a quick glance in the direction of Vi's mother. She remembered the understanding and the supporting hand on her shoulder. No way was she going to leave her alone with this maniac.

"No," she said simply.

"Claire," he said, his voice low and dangerous, "Fucking leave fucking now."

"Fuck off," she shot back.

Pulling himself to his feet he crushed the cigarette he'd dropped only minutes earlier under his foot.

"You don't know a fucking thing," he hissed, "You really don't, **niece**, and I highly suggest you stop pretending you do."

"If I leave," she snapped as she got defiantly to her feet, "You'll hurt her."

Something on his face flickered and for a moment she saw shock at her accusation. The rage came back, but there was some uncertainty in his eyes.

"No," he said, "I can't. Not her. Claire, there are things going on here that you have no idea about and never will if you know what's good for you. Now fucking leave right fucking now."

Claire raised a hand and flipped him off.

"Don't start talking like my father," she snarled, "You don't even count as an uncle. Now I'm going to leave with her, nice and quiet. Or you could make yourself useful and get a doctor or something instead of being an asshole."

She saw his mouth open again but he shut it, his fists clenching.

"Claire," she heard a weak voice said, "You really should do as he says."

Looking behind her Claire saw Vi's mother getting to her feet unsteadily.

"I'll be fine," she said, giving a small grin that didn't reach her eyes, "Your mother's probably wondering where you are right now anyway."

For a minute she stood there, undecided. Kraken was right, she didn't have a fucking clue what was going on. Still, she wasn't about to let him throttle Vi's mother.

"Claire," Vi's mother pleaded, "This is…this is personal. Please, please just go downstairs, okay?"

Claire nodded uncertainly. Shooting another angry glare at Kraken that she hoped was threatening she pushed open the door and escaped out into the hall.

.

.

.

It was her. Yes, she looked older and her hair had grown long and had been cut in bangs but it was her. He'd experienced far too many nightmares and dreams in his life that centered around her face staring at him for it to not be her. Every bone in his body ached at the recognition and yearned to hold her. At the same time though Kraken was begging the powers that be that he'd made a mistake, that it wasn't Vanya.

She was the Nix's mother. Through the pain and anger he was feeling he acknowledged that in some sort of perverse way it made sense for her to be. It seemed right because Nix would never have had those disturbingly familiar brown eyes otherwise. Yet, he wondered who the hell he was, the father he meant. Who was it she'd been with when he'd been mourning for her and beleiveing that part of him had been ripped away forever?

It was like every nightmare he'd ever had amplified by a million. There she was, steadying herself against the wall looking at him uncertainly. Yes, she should look at him uncertainly when he felt himself consumed by the intense rage a person could only have when they were betrayed by someone they loved. It had all been for her, all of these years. Now it turned out he'd wasted nearly half his life.

Helpless with rage he looked for a way to articulate himself and form his thoughts into words. To ask her why she had run away, faked her death, all of it. Had it all been some sort of fucking joke for her? Was she laughing, even now? He felt torn between wanting to kill her and just breaking down and asking why.

She continued staring at him, as though waiting for him to say something. What was he supposed to say? He had always been fucking useless with words. Did she even remember that about him? Or was she just remembering that she had not only broken his heart but destroyed it as well? Did she?

Once he'd said he'd given her his heart and he never wanted it back. Now he wanted it back. He wanted it all back because maybe then this wouldn't hurt like this. Every bullet, burn, and stab wound he'd gotten in his life had been nothing, nothing compared to what he was feeling now. He didn't even know how he managed to remain standing.

He had to say something, anything because he wanted an explanation dammit. Finally he choked out the furious words;

"The roof. Now."

Vanya nodded. He strode past her and pushed open the door. Kraken held it for a minute, waiting for her to follow after him. When she hesitated for a moment he hissed between his teeth in frustration. Grabbing her arm he pulled her after him, going at a quick pace. She stumbled slightly behind him.

The stumble made him remember just how fragile she was, how fragile she'd always been. Vanya had been like a beautiful porcelin doll that he'd always been afraid of breaking. That was why he was always gentle with her, only giving her the lightest of touches. He'd saved any gentleness he'd ever had and given it to her.

Anger surged into him as he pulled her up the stairs. How dare she be the same way? How dare she have only aged and not changed? It would've almost made more sense she had just changed her appearance drastically somehow. Then the fact that she had betrayed him would've been easier to stomach if he could believe she had changed.

Shoving open the door to the roof he felt the cold air of the early morning flood around him. The door banged shut behind Vanya and he turned to face her. Once again she looked fragile, nervous, but not scared. She had never been scared of him. Why hadn't she just changed? Even a little?

Turning away from her he sat down on the ledge of the roof. The sun was just casting its very first rays over the City. The time couldn't be past five or so in the morning. It had been ages since he'd been out and about at this time. Normally he would just be going to sleep, a habit he'd started during his teenage years.

It was something else that he'd managed to acquired with her next to him. After a minute she sat down next to him. She still wasn't scared of him, even after all that rage he'd shown her. After all this time. Still, and still he wanted to hold her like he'd held her before everything had happened. All of these thoughts just sufficed to make him angrier. Through gritted teeth he managed;

"Tell me everything."


	42. Chapter 42

March 30, 1986

Vanya hesitated at his demand. How did she explain this to him, how did she explain any of the things that had happened to her over fifteen years ago? She wondered how seeing her again must look to him if he'd thought that she was dead. Vaguely she wondered why he hadn't just killed her from the suspicions that were clearly showing on his face, ones that she'd be surprised if he didn't have.

Well, then it was her duty to make him see that he was wrong. Somehow she'd get him to know the truth. Then, then maybe things could be like they used to. It was an almost desperate thought but she wanted it so badly, she'd wanted it in her dreams for years and she wasn't about to give up now.

"About my daughter," she said hurriedly, desperate for him to understand, "Her name's Vivienne but we all call her Vi, but, I guess that's not really important, but what you don't know is that-"

"I don't want to hear about your fucking daughter," he snarled, not turning to face her.

She blinked.

"If you'll just listen to me-" she started.

"I want to know what happened," he interrupted again, "I want to know why you fucking left me and then just left me to think that…left me think that…fuck it. But I don't want to hear about her. Not a sentence, not a word, nothing related. I don't even want you thinking about her during this conversation. Nothing at all."

She wanted to protest, to tell him that she needed to talk about her. He'd just hate her; hate both of them if he just stayed there in ignorance. However, she noticed that his hands were clenched tightly into fists. Despite her memories of him and his patience with her she knew he was an unreasonable man. If she was younger she might've gotten angry at him and shouted, furious that he wouldn't listen. As it was she felt rather angry. However, she knew if she didn't do what he wanted he might leave and she couldn't risk that, not again.

"This is going to sound weird, but I'm not lying," she said, "You know that I'm a terrible liar-"

"That remains yet to be seen," he snapped.

Once again she bit back anger.

"There's no reason for me to lie," she said quietly, forcing calm into her voice, "So just please believe me."

He faltered only slightly before nodding curtly. She breathed out, relieved at that.

"Two weeks after college I…some men came by," she said, "They broke open the door to my college dorm and…well…you know how weak I am. One of them managed to knock me out with some sort of chemical. Next thing I knew I was in an unfamiliar place with at least twenty IVs sticking into me."

Pausing she was about to go on when she felt his hand skim against hers. It wasn't much, he'd just moved his hand closer to her like he was restraining himself from holding her hand in comfort. It felt so familiar. The calluses had tripled but it brought back all the memories she'd had of when she'd laid in his arms at night or when he'd just hold her or grip her hand to support her during an argument with Hargreeves. Closing her eyes to concentrate she went on.

"I figured that they were some people who had some shit with the Academy," she continued, "I thought that they had mistaken me for someone more important than I was or something like that. Then I found out…I found out…they figured I was a carrier, like I had a power deep within me that they could draw out. Their boss was one of the forty three, he could steal powers or something."

"Did they hurt you?" he asked, his voice deadpan.

She shook her head.

"They kept me drugged but no, they never hurt me. They never found out what I had either, so I figure they were wrong about me and this power business," she said, "But this guy, the boss, I never knew who he was. After a few days he came and showed me all the articles on my death, the death that they had set up. This Corey that 'I' got into the accident with was one of their agents. I don't know who they mutilated to make it look like me, but he said that it was to keep them off my trail. Then he said they were going to make sure that no one ever found me."

Vanya bit her lip remembering the next announcement and the pain and despair it had brought. It had all been for nothing, all of it.

"Everyone said you disappeared, the newspapers," she said, "They told me they'd killed you and now I'd never be found. I…I gave up. I can't really remember the things that happened next, it was like I was in some sort of black hole. I looked at a calendar after I got out and found out that it lasted about two weeks."

Again there was that brush of his hand against hers, like he was just stopping short of comforting her. She opened her eyes briefly to look at his face. It remained steadfastedly angry.

"Then I got angry. One of the guards was a woman, I waited until she came in," said Vanya, "I'd been pretty complacent and submissive over the past few days so she figured I wasn't a threat. I knocked her out with the food tray and stole her uniform. Then I dressed her in my clothes for a duplicate. I stole one of the cars and got the hell out of there."

She could still remember the way she'd held her breath until she was out. She'd been running on pure fear and adrenaline, adrenaline which had worn off about fifty miles away from the base.

"I ditched the car as soon as possible," she said, "You taught me how to hotwire them, so I just stole another one. After that I kept switching license plates and cars every three or four days. They were chasing me, and I had a few short scrapes."

Vanya pushed back her bangs to show a small scar over her forehead. Kraken nodded in acknowledgement but didn't look directly at her.

"So they did hurt you," he said, as though he was trying to keep emotions under control

She sighed as she removed her hand.

"It was a tranquilizer, but not enough of the drug got into my system to get me out. After about a month of playing cat and mouse I knew I couldn't keep it up," she said, "So I faked a suicide, put the car into gear and had it go into a fast running river. After that I walked about three or four miles, stole another car, and kept moving, getting odd jobs as a waitress or when I was lucky as a mechanic. I kept moving around, just in case. I was up in Chicago for a few years, but jobs were scarce so I had to come back to the City."

"How long?" he asked.

"Nine years."

Kraken continued staring straight ahead. Suddenly he got up and stalked across the rooftop, approaching the outlying building that protected the stairs from the elements.

"Nine years," he repeated, his voice raising, "Nine years!"

She got up and took a few steps tentatively towards him. He ignored her and turned away, leaving her by the small exit building. His pacing became erratic and jerky.

"Diego?" she tried.

He whirled around on her angrily.

"Who was he?"

"I already told you I never knew-" she started.

"I don't mean him," snarled Kraken, backing her into the wall of the building, "I mean who the hell it was that you fucked, Vi's bastard father, who was he?!"

She just looked at him, eyes wide.

"It couldn't have been long after you disappeared," he said through gritted teeth, "I can do the math. God Vanya, when I thought you died it was over for me! I never even fucking looked at another woman and you just…you just…"

He slammed both his fists on either side of her head and she took a sharp breath. It was funny, but even when he was indirectly threatening her she wasn't afraid. She was never afraid of him, never had been. Not even when he was conflicted between despair, love, and fury like he was now. Vanya started to wonder vaguely what he wanted her to say, or rather what he expected her to say.

Without any warning he leaned in and placed his lips over hers. Despite everything that had happened, it was still the gentle kiss she'd grown so used to and had believed she'd never again experience. Almost instinctively her hand slipped to the back of his neck and he pulled her closer. When he pulled away as suddenly as he came forward she knew he was panting even though he didn't need to.

Still he gently disentangled himself from her and resumed his disturbed pacing. She touched her lips, the feel of his kiss still there. Vanya knew then that she had a fighting chance, and fight she would.

"Diego," she said, her voice steady, "I never stopped loving you, no matter what you think. And now, if you'll just listen to me, really listen to me, then you'll know everything."

"Stop it," he growled, "Just stop it-"

"Listen to me!" she demanded, the anger bubbling through.

He turned and stared at her and she knew that it was now or never that she had her chance.

"If you'd let me tell you everything from the start," she said, "you'd have known already. But Diego, when they took me I was already pregnant. That's why they wanted me, they wanted the child I was carrying. Now do the math, really do the math."

He was staring at her like the world was falling out from under his feet but he didn't care. Kraken's eyes were riveted on her as she approached him and picked up his hand. She traced a few patterns on it absently before looking up at him.

"So…" he said weakly, "Vi…Vi's…"

"Yes," she said, "Vi's yours."


	43. Chapter 43

March 30, 1986

"I have a daughter?" he asked weakly.

Vanya nodded. Limply he walked over to the edge sat down. She followed him, and sat down next to him. He rubbed his eye patch sand she wondered for the fortieth time how he'd gotten it. Never mind that now though. His world had just been radically changed by what she had just said and she knew it. It wasn't every day he found out that not only was his long-lost love really alive but that she'd been raising his child as well.

As if to illustrate this point he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him. She rested her head on the hollow of his chest as he leaned his head in.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, "Such a fucking idiot. I should've listened…"

Vanya nodded at his statement and he let out a hollow laugh.

"I just thought that-" he started.

"That I'd been unfaithful?" Vanya said, her voice slightly muffled.

Yes, that was the root of the matter. If he had really been dead then being with someone else still would've been betraying him somehow. Maybe it would have betrayed the intense need that they had had for each other for so long, the intensity of the emotion. Even as children they'd felt that and had only really recognized it as adults.

"Never mind," he said, sounding ashamed, "I was wrong and you're here now and…well…after everything I said…and called you…and…and…I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't want me-"

"Don't be any more of a fucking idiot by finishing that sentence," she said, "Of course I still want you. I'll **always **want you."

He leaned his head in closer, so close so that she could feel his sigh.

"I have a daughter…" he said, sounding amazed.

She smiled a little at that, and a bit at the events of the night. Who'd have thought this could happen after all of these years? Who'd have thought that she'd see him again? Of course, this would all be hard to explain to Vi who was under the impression her father had died in Vietnam. Besides that there was the other impossible task, the one immediately in front of her.

How was she supposed to explain Vi? How was she supposed to tell him about her beautiful blonde daughter who became more like him every day? There were over fifteen years she'd had with her, and he'd just pulled her out of a fire, probably only seeing her for a few minutes. Vanya didn't know how much time she had, and she didn't even know where to begin.

Perhaps she should begin at the start with the strong yet fragile child she held in the charity ward at the hospital. Her bright blue eyes had looked up at her and Vanya felt like she was drowning in them. She'd taken her back to the hotel she'd been staying in a few hours later and had stayed up all night just listening to her breathe. It would be impossible to describe exactly how she felt. Vi had given her her reason to live back.

Should she tell him that the last time Vi had worn a dress had been when she was four? It had been red and white gingham with ladybug pockets. Her hair had already grown long and golden and she was always running off, but never too far. Than an older boy at school had tripped her for the fun of it and ruined her dress. The teachers said that he had called her names no boy that age should know. Vi got up and kicked him in a place the teachers were very surprised she knew about as well. Already she had been a spitfire.

Vi had stopped wearing the dresses after that and had opted for pants and long coats. She always kept her hair long. Although Vanya had never vocalized it, Vi somehow knew that her mother loved her hair long. She'd worried that she'd never find friends, being as different and special as she was. Then she had found Claire and Vanya had known that her daughter was amazing. She had been the daughter every mother had dreamed of and more. Altogether Vi was impossible to describe.

Still, she had to try.

"Diego?" she said, "You know I'd stay here forever, but there's a girl downstairs who's been waiting her whole life to meet you."

Suddenly she felt him tense.

"She's already met me," said Kraken, letting her go and putting his head in his hands.

"Not really," laughed Vanya, "I mean, you probably haven't even spoken to her-"

"I have."

She paused for a moment, looking at his posture.

"If I'd known…" he murmured.

"What?" Vanya asked, confused and nervous all at once.

He turned and looked at her, something like regret and guilt in his remaining eye.

"Vanya," he said, "There's something I have to tell you."

.

.

.

"And that's that done," Claire's mother said as she finished signing the forms.

Claire gave her a tired smile from the waiting room couch. She wondered what the hell was going on with Mrs. Hart and her uncle upstairs, but she'd find out later. Besides, she had done the right thing in leaving, hadn't she? They had seemed to know each other somehow, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was up. Maybe Vi would have the answers to the whole thing waiting for her the next day when she visited.

Shaking her head in another vain attempt to keep herself awake she watched her mother deposit the forms at the desk. Looking at her closely she could see that she looked tired too. However, when she went back for Claire she plastered an energetic smile on. Even though she was tired, it was a genuine smile. Claire could've cried when she saw that.

"You ready to go home?" her mother asked.

Blearily Claire looked up and nodded.

"Good," she said, taking her daughter's hand, "It looks like you've had a long night. I'll tell your father where you are in the morning. My place is closer right now."

Her mother smiled nervously at her. Despite the fact that Claire no longer believed her mother was the witch she had only hours earlier, things weren't exactly peachy. The bond they'd had when she was younger had been shattered and she'd been the one doing the breaking. Yet, she could do this. Hell, after tonight she could do just about anything.

Letting her mother hoist her up she returned the smile. Claire felt like she could sleep for the rest of the day and then some. In the dusky light of the early dawn it was hard to believe that she had stayed up the whole night. She was never doing this again, not even to cram for some test. She felt like she'd been hit by a semi.

Suddenly her mother gripped her arm tightly. Claire nearly howled from the pain and as it was she had to choke back tears. She turned around to ask her mother what the hell she was doing when she saw just how pale she'd turned. Claire turned, looking at her line of sight, trying to see what had unnerved her so badly.

Apparently their worst nightmares were one and the same. For coming into the hospital was the unmistakenable form of Spaceboy, followed by Séance and Horror. She saw Space look their way. For a minute he seemed shocked by the sight of her mother. Then his eyes turned to her and focused.

In the split second it took for him to look at her and for his eyes to widen in recognition Claire vocalized her thoughts;

"Fuck."


	44. Chapter 44

March 30, 1986

Claire grabbed her mother and hit the floor with her seconds before the bench Spaceboy had picked up soared over their heads. She felt the wind it created ruffle her hair and she shivered. A year ago it would've hit her and carried her off her feet, maybe breaking her ribs. Now her reflexes were rather scary.

She looked down at her mother and quickly turned her over. Damn. Claire hadn't really been thinking when she hit the floor, and she'd slammed her head in a little too hard. There was a cut on her forehead and she appeared to be unconscious. Claire swore again and whipped around angrily to face them.

They'd messed everything up. Vi was just now well and things were looking up for her and her mother. Now she had to get Vi and get out of there and her mother…well, she was sure her uncles would tell her everything. After that she could say goodbye to any hope she'd ever had of patching things.

"Why can't you leave well enough alone you fucking, fucking bastards?" she snarled, her fists clenched.

Séance snickered.

"Ask your friend and her precious corporate shampoos."

"What the hell does that mean!?" Claire snapped, throwing her hands into the air.

Deciding that she probably wouldn't like or understand the answer Claire scrambled to her feet. Adrenaline was flooding through her again and she shot out a bolt of electricity. The members dodged it, giving her enough time to move her mother out of the way. When she turned around Space was pointing an accusatory finger at her.

"Not in a public place!" he hissed.

"You're the ones who threw the goddamned bench!" she snarled, throwing another bolt at them.

They ducked and she took off down the hallway to get to Vi's room. If they found her unprepared then there would be hell to pay. She could hear the crashes that most definitely signaled pursuit and she prayed that she would be able to hold off long enough to get to her friend.

When Space cut her off she swore again and made an abrupt U-turn. She had no idea where she was heading now, except towards the exit. Claire planned on hiding for a bit then getting to Vi through a window or something. They'd escape, probably to the water park, and then they'd figure out what to do from there.

When Séance provided a very inconvenient roadblock she skidded a few feet in her haste to stop. She ran up the stairs, knowing that it was a bad idea but having no other choice. Space was probably coming behind her, no one else had that sort of footsteps on them. For the second time in twenty-four hours she was exhausted and felt like a rat in a maze with no exit. This time though, they was probably going to be no easy way out.

After five flights of stairs she felt winded and still had no idea where to go. All she knew was that she was headed for the roof and that couldn't be good. They were going to catch her and she felt panic set in. When she reached the door to the roof she threw it open and slammed it behind her. Using a technique that Kraken had taught her she broke the handle off, jamming the door. That would stop them, at least for a few minutes.

She turned around, her mind assessing her options. It stopped abruptly when she saw Kraken and Vi's mom standing there, staring at her. She stared back, shocked at their presence and the rather close proximity of their bodies. The past few hours got more and more exciting and strange by the minute.

"What's going on?" Kraken asked sharply.

"Academy," she replied, "Don't ask me how they're here but they're here and Space recognized meandthey'rechasingmerightnowandIdon''treallylook-"

"Slow down!" Kraken ordered, striding over to her.

Claire took a deep breath.

"They're coming," she said, "The fucking Academy is fucking hot on my fucking heels!"

"Diego," Vi's mother said slowly, "What's going on?"

He looked back at her, his face full of painful regret.

"You know when I said I had something to tell you?" he said, "Have you heard of the Dayton Girls?"

She nodded, still looking at Claire. Even though Claire was exhausted and on the verge of all out panic every single warning bell she'd ever had when off. Shooting a quick glare at Kraken she hissed;

"Shut the fuck up!"

"You're looking at Torpere," he continued, ignoring her, "Nix is downstairs recovering from and odd incident at the Amusement Park."

Vi's mother looked at him mutely and helplessly. Something in Claire snapped.

"What the fuck is your problem!?" demanded Claire, "That's my business and Vi's business and you said you wouldn't tell anyone you fucking bastard!"

"You knew?!" asked Vi's mother, anguished.

"Yes," he said, ashamed, "Yes. Vanya, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry but…they would've gotten themselves killed and if I'd have known…I wouldn't have wanted this for her…but they wanted to do and I thought…I thought-"

His voice was cut off by the thump of flesh hitting metal.

"Vanya?" asked Claire, her eyes riveted on the door, "So…she's my aunt?"

"Yes," said Kraken quietly, "In the same way I'm your uncle. Vanya, I'd like you to meet Allison's girl."

She didn't look back but she knew Vanya's eyes must have been wide as saucers. Logically Claire should feel the same thing. Strangely, she didn't.

"Just asking," Claire said, looking at the door that was having a hole ripped into it, "Would you by any chance happen to be-?"

"Vi's father?" he finished for her as he pulled his knife out of his pocket, "Found out a few minutes ago."

"Hm," Claire said, bracing herself for battle.

She hazarded a backwards glance at Vanya who was looking at them like the world had gone mad very very fast. Claire knew the feeling and felt a wave of sympathy for her. She'd be feeling that too if she hadn't been shocked so damn much in the past twenty-four hours that she was going numb from it. As she thought that Vanya's features shifted.

"And now big brother's coming," she said, nodding her head almost fiercely in time to the thuds on the door, "Looks like we're going to have a family reunion."

"If it helps," Claire heard herself say, "We didn't plan it this way."

Vanya laughed tiredly.

"Who would?"


	45. Chapter 45

March 30, 1986

When Space had taken off after Claire, he had told Horror to do one thing, and one thing only;

"Go find the other one."

As he and Séance had disappeared around the corner, Horror started thinking. For the first time in his life he was truly thinking about his orders and whether or not he wanted to do them. The thought shocked him, and then made him feel guilty. He should've started to do this much sooner.

First of all he realized that he had absolutely no desire to go after 'the other one'. Ever since freeing Torpere he had discovered just how young they were and how he felt about imprisoning minors. He also realized that he had absolutely no desire to remain with the Academy, something that had been building for quite awhile. Now all he had to figure out was what to do with his newfound clarity.

A small moan to his right made him quickly decide. He kneeled down next to Rumor.

"Hey," he said.

Painfully she started to pull herself up. Horror helped her to her feet. She looked at the couch which had smashed into the opposite wall, nearly toppling it.

"Did…did Luther throw a couch at me?" she asked dizzily, "I know he was upset last time I saw him but…that's really overreacting."

"No," Horror replied, "Actually it was that girl standing next to you."

"Huh?" she asked, rubbing her head.

"You know," he said, hoping that Torpere hadn't done brain damage in her hurry to save Rumor, "The one with the…purple…hair…"

Suddenly, it hit him. He didn't understand how he hadn't see it before. Of course, not everyone with purple hair was related to Rumor. Still though…

"That's my daughter," she snapped out.

"It makes more sense," he said, more to himself then to her.

"Why?!" she barked.

He turned his head towards her and looked down nervously.

"It's a long story-" he started.

Rumor grabbed the neckline of his shirt and pulled him down so that he was eye level with her. He wished that he wasn't especially with the way they were blazing at him.

"Then get started," she snarled.

.

.

.

The door came down in a shatter of metal and masonry. Claire tensed, gathering what little strength she had left for her defense. She saw Kraken twirl his knife as Space stepped in, with Séance strolling after him.

"It figures you'd be here," Space said coldly to Kraken, "After your little stunt at the park-"

"I didn't set your building on fire dipshit," snapped Kraken, "And neither did she for that matter."

"Dude," Séance said, "You could've totally singed my clothes. Do you have any idea how hard smoke smell is to get out of your clothes? I'm not talking about cigarette smoke, 'cause that shit's nice, but fire smoke actually smells like shit."

"Sorry about your wardrobe jackass," Claire snarled, "In case you haven't noticed one of ours nearly died tonight."

"Yes," Space snapped back at her, "All the more reason why you shouldn't be out by yourselves. You untrained, unprepared, and you hang around with that piece of shit."

As he spoke he pointed an angry finger at Kraken. Kraken growled, but Space continued.

"That's why we're taking you back into custody tonight, you and your blonde friend. Horror's on it right now."

"You leave her alone!"

Everyone turned around to see Vanya striding up to the group, her face furious. Space stuttered as he saw her.

"But, but-" he started.

"Shut up!" she snapped at him, her hands on her hips.

Claire was both aghast and admiring of the scene before them. There was Space, big, strong, arrogant even when confused. Standing in front of him like angry goddess was Vanya, small and fragile.

"You never bothered, did you?" she said mirthlessly, "You never bothered when you picked up my body, and they told me you did, to check to see if it was me? Even when you found out the brake lines were cut, and they told me that you knew too, you didn't check. Now, after fifteen years of the world thinking I was dead and thinking that…that…that Diego had died too and now you stand here and threaten **my **daughter you unconscionable bastard!?"

Even Séance took a step back before her fury.

"You…you have a daughter?" he asked, sounding more confused than anything.

"Yes!" Vanya cried, advancing, "And she was hurt at your base, doing…god knows what but you hurt her somehow-"

"It wasn't us," Space protested.

"Did I say you could interrupt!?" she roared.

Space had now backed into the doorway. Séance was trying to slink away, but she turned on him.

"And you!" she said, "A drugged up moron, just like always. You're to blame too. Did it ever occur to you that I might not have been dead since you couldn't talk to me? Did it occur to you that you should mention it to someone who actually cared? No! That would take **work**!"

Claire was inches away from clapping when footsteps sounded out from the staircase. She paled when she saw her mother with Horror tailing her close behind. Rumor's lips were white with rage and Claire knew that it was over. Then to her surprise she heard her say;

"Luther, what the fuck are you doing?"

He turned around, now caught between a rock and a hard place, i.e two furious mothers.

"I hear you kidnapped my daughter a few hours ago," she said levelly.

Space shot an accusatory glare at Horror, who shrugged apathetically.

"What you don't understand-"

"Oh I understand alright!" Rumor said, "And- good God, is that Vanya?"

Vanya turned from Séance to nod.

"I think you might've met my daughter," Vanya said, "I'm Vi's mom."

Rumor threw her hands up.

"Of course you are, yes," she said, "When it rains it pours, doesn't it?"

"With you on that," she said, "I just heard that Diego's alive so my girl has her father back but her uncles have been trying to kill her."

"Yours too, huh?" Rumor asked.

"Yes," Vanya said, "But I don't feel like letting these bastards hurt her anymore."

"Same here."

"They're vigilantes!" rallied Space.

Rumor whipped around.

"They're better versions of us Luther!" she shouted, "Why can't you just open your big stupid eyes for once and see-"

Whatever Rumor was about to say, Claire would never know. She was cut off a window shattering, from the sound of it, somewhere near Vi's ward.


	46. Chapter 46

March 30, 1986

"We believe she is alone sir," the voice on the other end of the radio said.

Jormungand closed his eyes and leaned back. Normally a man of action, he never wasted any time when the moment had come. Normally he'd seize the thing by the ears and throttle every ounce of usefulness out of it. This was different though. Years had been leading up to this moment. Now that it had arrived he wanted to fully taste it, to roll it around in his mouth like a fine wine before swallowing it. He gave a small contented sigh.

"Sir?"

"Send the men in," he replied without opening his eyes, "Make as little fuss as possible, but if you have to kill, then don't hesitate. And bring the girl back unharmed. We want her in good condition when we start."

.

.

.

"No," Vi said, "Absolutely not."

Dr. Bryar rolled his eyes. It was precisely ten minutes before Claire would hear the crash of glass on the roof, and precisely ten seconds before Vi was about to undergo an unpleasant hospital experience.

"Aren't you a little old to be afraid of a shot?" he asked sarcastically.

"I don't like needles," she said hotly.

Shaking his head Dr. Bryar reached for a syringe and began filling it with a thick, clear liquid. Vi looked at it with angry suspicion.

"Why can't you just put it in my IV?" she demanded, "I've already got more than enough needles in me right now."

"Is it the pain or the idea of an unknown material going into your blood?"

"A little bit of each," admitted Vi haughtily.

"It's just a rather strong sedative to help you rest," Dr. Bryar said, "Now hold out your arm."

Grumbling Vi reluctantly held out her arm. She hissed in pain when the needle slid under her skin and closed her eyes so that she wouldn't have to look at that **stuff **being shoved into her. She gave another hiss as Dr. Bryar removed the needle and put it back on a table near her with a clink.

"There," he said, "Was that so bad?"

"Is this a trick question?" she shot back.

"Teenagers," snorted Dr. Bryar, "They think they know everything and then they go off and be vigilantes. Makes me happy **I **don't have any children."

"Same here."

He shot her a glare.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing," she protested.

As soon as his back was turned she grinned and stuck out her tongue. He whipped around quickly to see her sitting nonchalantly.

"Teenagers," he muttered again.

She smirked and bowed her head as though examining her sheets.

"So when am I gonna get out of here?" she asked.

Now it was his turn to shrug.

"I should say sometime in the near future," he said, "I can't be sure of course, but that's just what I'd say."

"Fat lot of help you are," she grumbled.

"Always a pleasure. Now the sedative should start taking effect soon, so try to relax. You got that?" he asked.

Vi pretended not to hear him. He glared at her but for some reason or another she was suddenly finding the ceiling tiles remarkably fascinating.

"Your avoidance techniques are remarkably annoying for someone of your age," he said conversationally, "What are you, two?"

"What are you, two?" she mimicked.

"Now that's just childish."

"Now that's just childish."

"Stop it."

"Stop it."

Dr. Bryar shut his mouth.

"You're very ungrateful," he said.

"Nah doc," she said, "Just a little bored. Sorry that you're my only source of entertainment right now."

He paused.

"I'll have them send up a movie."

"Thanks," she smiled, "but like you said, I'll be asleep soon. Hey, have you seen my mom or Claire around lately?"

"Not since they bullshitted the police," the doctor replied to her.

"Suspicious," said Vi with an air of feigned shock, "Ah, knowing them they're probably hip deep in some sort of trouble right now."

"I wouldn't know about that-" he started.

"Dr. Bryar?" asked a large man in scrubs by the door.

Irritably he turned around.

"I was just talking to the patient **orderly**."

Vi saw the man's eye twitch in irritation. She thought that that was a little odd. Surely he must've gotten used to that sort of tone from doctors. A feeling of foreboding welled up inside her from somewhere and she instinctively tensed.

"You're needed in room five."

Dr. Bryar cocked his head.

"Are you new or something?" he asked, "There is no room five. Well, there is, but it's a storage closet. I don't think I'd be needed-"

The orderly's fist thumped him on the head and she saw him go down. The man looked at him dispassionately before looking at her. He grinned, showing off the teeth that he was missing.

"Now missy," he said, "We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the fun way. Well, the way that's fun for me."

He leered nastily at her. In one swift movement she threw the covers up and got out of the bed. Her limbs felt stiff and slow. He lunged after her but she managed to dodge him, even with her limbs feeling like they were. However, she crashed into the table near her bed and fell to the floor. If she hadn't been so hopped up on pain medication then it might've hurt. As it was it just felt uncomfortable.

The man got back to his feet and pulled a gun. Vi looked around desperately for some sort of weapon, her body feeling heavy and tired. Damn that sedative! After a few seconds of searching her eyes alighted on the syringe. She picked it up, realizing only then what a terrible weapon it made. The man realized it too and laughed, a rather ominous sound.

"Whatcha gonna do with that?" he sneered.

Barely thinking she pushed herself forward with it and plunged the needle through his eye. She had only seconds to wonder if it had hit his brain before she pushed the remainder of the liquid into his head. His eyes rolled backwards. If he wasn't dead then at least he was out for the count.

Looking up she saw three others blocking her doorway. Still feeling heavy she picked up an end table and threw it through the window. The glass crashed and the gust of cold wind reminded her that she was not on the first floor. She was close though, and she knew how to scale walls. She could do this, yeah, right, she could do this…

Black spots started to cloud her vision as she sank slowly to the ground. No, this couldn't be happening when there was a crisis! Vi desperately tried to hold onto her consciousness, but the sedative wasn't allowing it. Just before the darkness took her completely she heard a voice say;

"Come on. Let's get her to the boss."


	47. Chapter 47

March 30, 1986

Claire ran to the edge of the roof as soon as she heard the glass smash. Her instinct had kicked in, her urge to see the threat. At first she had no idea why she had done that. All of the Academy were up here, weren't they? Weren't they their only threat? It was only after she started looking down that she remembered the mysterious shooter that had brought them to the hospital in the first place.

Kraken quickly followed her, turning his back to the Academy for the first time that night. The thought that this was the first time he had ever turned his back on the Academy flashed across her brain, but she dismissed it as unimportant. Together they watched the figures slink out the window. She cocked her head, uncomprehending. Then she spotted one of them carrying a blonde haired girl over his shoulder.

Immediately Claire vaulted over the side. Kraken had shown her time and time again how to correctly leap off a building. You had to keep catching things to slow down your fall, and luckily there was a street light that she grabbed on to. From her position she could see seven or eight men headed towards a large truck.

Claire had no idea what the hell they thought they were doing, or why they wanted to kidnap Vi. She did notices, however, that the side of the truck had a snake gripping an orb, or maybe it was a globe. It was hard to tell from her vantage point. It was something to think about, but later, once Vi was alright. Swinging around the street light in a circle she landed onto a trash can right in front of one of the men.

Before he even pulled a gun she had flipped behind the trash can. It was graceless, but Vi had always been better at the more physical aspects of being a superhero. Bullets pinged of it only a second after she found sufficient cover. Electricity wouldn't work right now, not at this angle.

Deciding to pull a leaf out of her friend's book she picked it up and tossed it at him. It was difficult, any heavier and it would've been impossible for her. Her efforts had satisfying results though. Not only did it lay one man out, but it knocked down the one behind him in a domino effect.

A man behind the one carrying Vi pulled out his gun as well. She quickly used her electricity to swat it aside and give the man a good enough shock to lay him out. Then it happened. It was like she had received the shock instead of him and was going into cardiac arrest. She fell to her knees, panting.

This was much worse than what she'd experienced in the junkyard. Her heartbeat had accelerated, she could tell because she could hear it thrumming in her ears. Had she overused her powers? Maybe it was just from lack of sleep. As she struggled to stay conscious she heard the click of a gun from somewhere near her left ear.

Part of her gave into pure panic and the other part to rage. There was no way in hell that she was going to die here in a hospital parking lot. More importantly she certainly wasn't going to die a failure. If only she had the energy…which she knew she didn't. Back-up might be good to. She wasn't going to get it though. Vi was out and being loaded into a truck to be taken God knew where. Kraken though…where the hell was Kraken!?

.

.

.

Kraken hadn't seen the flash of blonde that Claire had seen. He had, however, seen the men in black which he knew couldn't be good. This was compounded by the fact that only seconds later Claire had jumped off of the edge of the building. Normally she hated such strenuous physical exertion.

Naturally he had started to follow her. He didn't even have the chance to clear the ledge before Space jerked him backwards. Space slammed him into the concrete roof, effectively knocking the wind out of him. Kraken had always been quick to recover though and started struggling to get free. However, Space's monstrous hand had him pinned.

"Oh no you don't," he said, "You're not going anywhere, and neither is she when we get down there."

His brother's lack of brain capacity never ceased to amaze him.

"Have you gone mad?" he choked out, "That's your goddamned niece down there you son of a bitch!"

For a moment he saw something flicker across Space's face. It quickly disappeared though as he said;

"Be that as it may, she still broke the law. You of all people know that there's no nepotism here."

"I heard high altitudes give human-ape hybrids severe knee cramps!" Rumor shrieked.

Space gritted his teeth in pain and released Kraken. As he struggled to his feet he cast a grateful look at his sister.

"Nobody touches my daughter!" she declared angrily.

Kraken smirked to himself before he jumped over the side. He went the same way as Claire, only this time there was no trash can halfway through. The shock from the fall made his legs shake in pain but he got over it when he saw the man pointing the gun at Claire's head. It took only a few swift strides to get there and very little effort to break the man's neck.

"You okay kid?" he asked, looking at her bowed head.

"I'm fine," she hissed irritably, "But Vi's in the truck, you've got to go get her!"

His blood ran cold as the sound of an engine starting reached his ears. Without thinking he ran after it. It was completely illogical. No one was fast enough to catch up with a car and he was running on half power as it was. Still, it was his daughter in that car and he wasn't about to let these bastards take her anywhere.

Throwing himself after it he managed to grab onto the bumper with his fingertips. The rest of him skidded behind it, the pavement ripping through the cloth at his knees and digging into his flesh. He tried to throw up his other hand to support to other, but to no avail. He couldn't reach the damned thing.

To make matters worse the driver had apparently noticed him and was now making as many sharp turns as possible in an attempt to throw him off. From both the pressure and the sweat he felt his fingers slipping. In that moment he knew that there was no way in hell that he would be able to hold on.

He had done this before dammit! He had done it plenty of times before. That had been when he was the Kraken of the Umbrella Academy though. Now he was just Detective Torrenton of the police force. Torrenton had always been weaker, even when he was teaching his niece and daughter how to fight. What had it been about that stupid costume with that stupid pirate theme that had made him seem so much stronger?

There wasn't any time to worry about that though. He had to rescue his daughter, if not now then later. At least he'd never been a complete idiot as Torrenton. With his free hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a tracer. He'd always kept them handy in case of an emergency and if this wasn't an emergency then he didn't know what was.

He threw the small electronic device to his other arm. For a split second it hung suspended in the air. Then he let go with his good hand and caught it. Still in that split second he slammed it into the bumper and saw the green light come on, telling him that it was armed and stuck well onto its target.

Then the split second was over and he fell away from the car. He hit the pavement hard, feeling more cuts open up and bruises form. Kraken knew that he was lucky, lucky to have been able to get the tracer on and to escape so unscathed. Still, he doubted that anyone watching the car carrying his kidnapped daughter driving away felt lucky about anything.


	48. Chapter 48

March 30, 1986

Claire felt tears of frustration smart in her eyes when Kraken fell off the car and skidded across the road. For a minute the only sounds she heard was the squeal of rubber as the truck took off into the distance. It sounded like a scream to her. As if in a trance she watched Kraken limp over to her, his legs torn, dirty, and bloody. He offered her a hand to help her to her feet, but she ignored it.

"You let them take her," she said furiously.

He shook his head and ran his spare hand tiredly through his hair. When he spoke it sounded like a sigh.

"I put a tracer on 'em. We'll get the bastards."

As if he hadn't said anything Claire continued steadfastedly ignored his hand.

"You let them take her," she repeated.

"I didn't let them do anything," he said, his voice sounding irritated.

"Yes," she said, "Yes you did."

"I did all that I could," he replied sharply, "and it turned out that it just wasn't enough."

"You could've done something," she insisted, "You could've-"

"You could've done something too!" he snarled at her abruptly, "You could've kept going or played your cards better and not squandered your energy on being a goddamned hero. But you didn't do any of that shit and neither did I. So don't go blaming this on me! Now get the fuck up!"

Eyes widening in surprise she stared at him. He growled in frustration.

"I don't want anything to happen to her either," he snapped, "You might not have been paying attention, but I just found out that she's my daughter and I'll be damned before I let someone hurt her. Now get the fuck up and stop sniveling!"

Partially out of anger towards him and partly out of the urge to prove him wrong she grasped his proffered hand. She stood on her feet slightly unsteadily. Her legs became slightly more wobbily under his accusatory gaze.

"This…this just wasn't supposed to happen," she said in what she knew was a pitiful attempt to explain herself.

He shook his head again.

"When is anything like this ever supposed to happen?" he asked, "But I want you to think about this; when they took you away she didn't give up on you. So don't you dare give up on her."

She nodded. This was no time to be falling to pieces. She needed to keep herself together or everything would be fucked up beyond repair.

"So," she started, "What should we do-?"

"This really has gone far enough."

Claire didn't even bother to turn around.

"Look, uncle asshole," she said, "I don't think you understand the situation here. Your niece has just been carted off by madmen in black. Your other niece and your brother are trying to find her so that she doesn't end up dead in some ditch. Could you do something other than be an ass? Just for once?"

She knew that the whole speech would only serve to piss off Spaceboy. At this point though, she really didn't care.

"You're in no position to talk," he said, "Both of you look as though you're ready to fall over from exhaustion. I could take you out, no problem."

Depressed from what had just happened, and angry because he was right, she turned around.

"You're over thirty," she said, "And you're pretty much alone. It's sadly unsurprising when that's how you treat your family. I can't imagine how you treat strangers."

"Stop it," he snapped.

"Stop what asshole?" she snapped back, "You're the one who's being unreasonable here, not me."

"Just stop it."

She stomped forwards a few feet.

"Stop what?!" she snapped again.

"Stop being like your mo-" he stopped abruptly.

She cocked her head, confused.

"Finish that sentence," she said.

"He doesn't need to," Kraken said, "Rejection still bites, eh?"

Space glared angrily at Kraken.

"Too personal for you?" he said.

"It'll just make it funner when I take you in," he said "Which arm would you like broken first? Your right or your left?"

Seeing that he was serious Claire blanched. From his expression Kraken realized that they were well and truly screwed. Frantically she started to try to think of some sort of solution to their present predicament. She was all out of power and Kraken was torn and bloody. Her mother might be able to do something, but she was probably still on the stairs down.

From her assessment it looked like they were screwed as well. Maybe if they could stall him…no, not this time. He looked like the only thing that was currently holding him back was his desire to see Kraken's expression. However, he was rapidly looking satisfied which meant that their time was all but out.

"Luther," she heard Kraken say quietly.

Both her and Spaceboy turned to him in shock. She'd never heard him call his brother by his first name before. Mostly he'd just referred to him as 'Space' or 'asshole'. Hell, she wouldn't have even known that he was addressing Spaceboy's if she hadn't heard her mother calling him it earlier.

"Luther please," he said, his voice still quiet, "She's my daughter."

His tone shocked her. It was plain, without the hint of mocking dark sarcasm he'd carried around for the entire time she'd known him. Also, it was almost begging. No, scratch that, it was pleading.

"I…I didn't even know I had her but…her name's Vi," he continued, "I don't really know her yet, not as my daughter and she doesn't even know I'm her father. We don't owe each other shit, I understand that. But Luther, please."

She saw Space's expression erode like a glacier going over a landmass.

"Please," Kraken repeated.

In trepidation she watched as Space approached his brother. This felt like a bad movie where you could see everything building but were powerless to stop the characters on the screen from making a stupid decision. She wanted to scream some sort of warning or do something, but what the hell was she supposed to do? So she just stared in mute horror as Space looked at his brother oddly. Then he said;

"You put a tracer on it, huh?"

Claire watched Kraken nod, numbly.

"The mansion's got some good tracing tech in the basement," he said, "It's got something to heal things faster. Let's get going as soon as the others get down."


	49. Chapter 49

March 30, 1986

Unlike other people, there was no blissful moment of forgetfulness when she woke up. There was no fumbling for recent information on the past few hours or vague wondering if perhaps they had simply drank too much. No, the minute Vi awoke she knew that she was well and truly fucked.

Her head felt like someone has doused it in kerosene and then lit it on fire. Then, just for fun, they hit it in several key spots with a baseball bat. Her arms ached from the position they were in and the shot she had received earlier, as did her neck. Vi's legs feel insanely heavy. She supposed that her mouth had fallen open sometime or another, that's the only excuse for why her tongue felt so damn dry.

Nonetheless she pulled herself up and started to take a look at her surroundings. She almost laughed out loud. It was like a cop's interrogation room from T.V, all cold white tile and a stainless steel table. Well, not quite stainless. Her head had been resting on it while she was out and apparently she'd drooled, which confirmed the open mouth theory. Other than that though, it was a perfect replica. There was even a mirror which was too clean to have **not **been two-way one.

Vi looked down at her hands and took in the cuffs that locked them in place. These were the only thing that didn't fit in with the cops hypothesis. Scratch that, the people barging into her hospital room and dragging her out didn't fit either. Even so they were odd. They were like one solid chunk with electric blue lights coursing through them. It was all advanced technology, certainly. Yet, for some reason, it didn't feel like the Umbrellas. They would've gotten her themselves. That was one thing you could say about them, they did things in person.

She tried to lift them, just to get a feel for it. Very solidly it resisted her attentions. This was pretty bad, as she was starting to get an itch behind one of her shoulder blades. Looking under the table she noticed the same contraptions attached to her ankles. She decided to try again, just for good measure. As she struggled in the ones that held her hands in place she felt a sharp pain. Blood appeared to be dripping from an internal cut. It mixed with the drool. They'd have fun getting that stain out.

So far it appeared that getting out of the cuffs and running was out of the question. Leaning backwards she tried to get comfortable in her chair. It really was very uncomfortable, not to mention she had been dropped into it sloppily. Now that she couldn't move very far or shift it was becoming pronounced. Also, the tile and stainless steel were cold as hell and she was still wearing that damned hospital gown.

Thinking about the fact that she had been unceremoniously dumped there pissed her off. They obviously wanted her alive, but they were being stupid about it. Briefly she reflected that this might mean they didn't take **living** prisoners very often, but she decided that this should've just made them more careful.

Super-villains were supposed to be good at this, taking prisoners. The comics had led her to believe that, but maybe they had let her down again. It wouldn't be the first time. However, they were keeping her waiting for far too long. Getting more pissed off by the minute she straightened herself into what she hoped was a disdainful posture.

"Come on out shithead," she said loudly, "I know you're out there."

She heard a chuckle and felt the irritation build up. It took a few more minutes for the door to open though, but she hadn't moved from her ramrod position. When he came in, she fixed her face into a scowl.

"What kind of a super-villain are you?" she asks, actually surprised to find herself a little disappointed.

To be fair he was disappointing. His face was like a baby's, all round and soft. As for the rest of him, he was two steps away from being pudgy. There was gel in his honey-brown hair, but not much. He wasn't even wearing black, just a blue suit with a damned briefcase. All in all, he was a rather uninspiring super-villain.

"I'm a practical one," he replied, setting his briefcase down and leaning up against one of the tile walls.

"Boo-ring," Vi drawled, "Do you even have a villain name, or do you call yourself Mr. Brown or some shit like that?"

His eyes flashed.

"Jormungand," he snapped.

"Jormungand," repeated Vi, "Norse serpent that holds the world. Not bad really, and at least you bothered. Norse mythology is kinda overused though, and Fenris was a helluva lot cooler than Jormungand. Tell me, did Jormungand ever actually do anything in the legends **except **what his daddy told him to?"

Once again his eyes flashed. Vi was glad to see that her favorite method of pissing off her antagonizers was still working. Even if he was going to kill her, which she highly doubted, then she could have some fun first. She grinned.

"What a rude young lady," he said, "Just like your mother."

Her grin dropped off her face like a sack of bricks from a tall building.

"That got your attention," he smirked, "And I was wondering if you'd never shut up."

"What about my mom?" she hissed.

Raising an eyebrow he leaned up against the wall again.

"You know your mother as Mary Hart," he said, "Don't deny it; we already know who you are. Still, what would you think if we told you that that was actually a false name, an assumed identity?"

He didn't wait for Vi to respond.

"Your mother's birth parents are unknown to the rest of the world," Jormungand continued, "I doubt anyone but her adopted father knows who she really was. You see, your mother did not receive a name until she was around twelve. That name was Vanya Hargreeves."

"Bullshit."

"I am telling the truth," he said, "Do you ever wonder why you're stronger, faster, more flexible than anyone else your age? Do you wonder why my best marksman was not able to take you out, or the fact that **you've stopped bleeding**?"

Vi looked down at her hands and was surprised to find that all traces of the cut was gone, even the blood.

"Yes," he said as she looked up, "Your regenerative factor seems to be speeding up. Now listen closely girl; though I may not look it I'm your mother's peer. Forty three of us, and I had the best power of all. Assimilation. I can take other people's powers if I feel like it. This is why the Academy has always interested me. Such lovely powers! If I hadn't had an agreement with Hargreeves to keep away from his little pets than I would've snatched them up years ago. Fortunately that didn't include Vanya."

Jormungand walked up to the table and leaned unpleasantly close to Vi. He had terrible breath. If he were any closer she would've head-butted him for talking all this shit.

"When we found out she was pregnant we just had to move in," he said softly, "I could only imagine what powers the child of one of the forty three would be like. We called it Project Baldor, believing she could have the ultimate hero. We took her and we waited."

It sounded like a bad Sci Fi movie. Yet…what he was saying made sense. It made sense for why they would've moved around so much when she was younger if they were hiding. At the same time, it didn't seem real. None of this seemed real.

"I know you don't believe me," he continued, "but if I'm lying then how would I know this; your mother's blood type is O, universal donor. She has an allergy to onions and certain bleaches. Normally she's a bit of an insomniac…"

The list went on and it was all Vi could do not to gape. It was true, it was all true. Still, she rallied one last pitiful defense;

"Vanya didn't have any powers."

"That's what Hargreeves thought. Turns out she's just a sleeper," snorted Jormungand dismissively, "We never found out what it was that was hidden so deep, but you're proof that she had them somewhere. Of course, they might have all come from your father. I don't know what lies she fed you, but do you want to know who your father **really **was?"

Vi felt the world slow. With another smirk he leaned away from the table and spread out his hands expansively.

"Diego Hargreeves," he said, "Otherwise known as the Kraken. His genes plus your mother's made a rather excellent combination."

Her eyes blank, Vi continued to stare at him.

"You also appear to be slightly psychic," he said, "Probably the reason why when you heard his voice in the hospital you identified it with your father."

She narrowed her eyes.

"Yes, we know what you're thinking," he said, obviously pleased with himself, "The little monitors located on your forehead tell us-"

He was cut off when Vi slammed her forehead into the table.

"What the hell!?" he shouted.

She continued slamming her forehead down, ignoring the pain, until she heard several loud cracks. Even though blood was dripping into her eyes she raised her head to glare at him defiantly.

"No one gets into my head," she snapped, "No one."

Jormungand stared at her for a minute.

"Here's a question I'd like to ask, you spineless little piece of shit," she said, "He thinks she's dead, and I know that for a **fact**. Did you make her think-?"

"Of course," Jormungand snapped irritably, "We had to have her give up, didn't we? Otherwise nothing would've worked. And don't-"

"So all this time…" said Vi distantly, "You're the reason why I didn't have a father growing up and why my mom always cried at night when she thought I couldn't hear her."

"Sorry about your family problems bitch. It was a rather good charade though-" started Jormungand.

With a suddenness that surprised even herself Vi made a lunge for him.

"I'LL KILL YOU YOU BASTARD!" she screamed.

He narrowly dodged her before the cuffs dragged her to the ground. She hit her head on the floor hard, but it didn't matter. Furiously she tried to drag herself up.

"Pathetic," he said, although she noticed he was shaking, "You think you're a hero, do you?"

Walking back over to the wall he picked up the briefcase he'd brought in. Even as she struggled he dumped her costume clothes out onto the floor.

"We found these with your personal affects," he sneered, "Like father like daughter, eh? A realistic villain for a stupid ass hero. Lovely match. Now just sit tight while we go figure out a way to extract your powers, and then you can finally die. Just like you were always supposed to."

He turned his head, narrowly missing the look that Vi gave him. It was one that she had inherited from her father, one that said that the recipient was in for a world of pain.


	50. Chapter 50

March 30, 1986

The Academy was like a mausoleum. It had always been, Kraken knew that. The only difference now was that there was no noise. Space had assured him that Hargreeves wouldn't know about their presence, he was out on a diplomatic mission to Russia. This comforted him, but only fractionally.

A few hours ago Horror had started locking on to the tracer. The location was close enough, but Space wanted to wait until dark. Kraken had been inches from throttling him before he realized that he was right. The building offered almost no cover; they'd be spotted blocks from the place even if they used the damned sewers. It also had more guns on it than just about any security system he'd encountered in years. All there was to do now was wait for the sun to go down.

This didn't comfort him. It hadn't comforted Claire either, but unlike him she'd never stayed up for days at a time. The most she had ever gotten by on was three or four hours of sleep and her energy had reached its end and she'd passed out on the living room couch. Rumor had gone down soon after. Vanya had lasted longer, probably the experience from double and triple shifts she'd worked. He'd seen her hands, practically worn to the bone. Kraken gritted his teeth. He'd change that as soon as this shit was over. He'd change it.

However, that wasn't what was on his mind. That wasn't what was making him stalk through the corridors. Only minutes before she went out as well she'd leaned against his shoulder and said;

"Vi brought home her first Umbrella Academy poster when she was three. Got it free from the old man who ran the newsstand back in Chicago. Apparently something had been wrong with the magazine, couldn't sell it. He saved it. Always did have a fond spot for her."

Kraken hadn't said anything, and she'd continued.

"I let her put it up in her room, smiled at her clumsy attempts to use scotch tape. Then that night I went to my room and cried until I fell asleep."

He gripped her tightly.

"She took it with us when we moved," she said, "She got some more as time went on, but she loved that one. When she was twelve I came home and found her patching it up on the table. The whole thing was practically made from scotch tape by that time. So I asked her why she didn't just pitch it. Do you wanna know what she said?"

He didn't say a word, which she must've taken as encouraging.

"She said it was her first and it was the only one the Kraken was in. Said he was her favorite."

As he stared at her she slipped off into sleep. Only a few minutes later he had gently shifted her and then gone off, his mind racing. He stomped down the hallways that seemed eerily familiar, finally coming right outside the room he had once occupied. Cursing himself he went in, nothing else to do, nowhere else to go.

It hadn't changed as much as he'd expected. For one thing it was a lot neater than how he'd left it and there was much less dust and cobwebs than he'd expected. Experimentally he ran his finger across the top of one of the cabinets. It was thick, but again, not as thick as he'd been expecting.

"Mom always kept it clean."

He whirled around to see Spaceboy in the door frame. The first instinct was to punch his lights out. It had was practically a reflex, so ingrained his memory. He only just managed to stop himself from leaping forward. It would hardly be appropriate to try to kill the person who was currently trying to help him find his daughter.

"Yeah," he said vaguely, "She was…good about things like that. Where is-?"

"Her battery ran out two years ago," replied Space, "Hargreeves said we didn't need her anymore, just put her in the spare room. Ben keeps trying to fix her but…she's on a different operating system. It's complicated."

There was a touch of sadness in his voice, one that Kraken could sympathize with. It had been nice to have someone like Mom around, even if she was a robot programmed to make them feel better.

"Things change," Kraken said, turning around to his dresser again.

"You should get some rest," Space said, "This is a big one tonight."

"Stop being team leader," snapped Kraken.

Space shrugged and Kraken irritably shook his head. Yes, yes it was a big one tonight and he probably did need rest. He just couldn't do it. Despite the fact that some of the machines in the basement had healed his road rash wounds there would be scars. Those scars, which itched occasionally, put him in mind of how he'd failed. It also put him in mind of what he'd thought just before he'd had to let go.

"Luther," he said, "Do you know what happened to my uniform?"

He could feel Space's shock from behind him.

"Hargreeves threw it in the garbage can," he replied, still sounding shocked, "Said it was a waste of space."

Kraken nodded.

"Figures," he muttered.

There was a pause.

"Then Mom fished it out, washed it, and left it in the spare room. D'you think it'll still fit?"

A wry smile tugged at Kraken's lips.

"It had better."

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.

.

When Rumor woke up the first thing she did was turn lazily to her daughter. Still asleep. Tiredly Rumor shook her head. It had been an odd sort of day, or was it just a series of hours? She looked at her watch; 4:00 p.m. At this time yesterday she'd returned a book to the library and shopped for groceries. Now she knew that her daughter and her new niece were vigilantes, her sister was alive, and now it was a family affair to rescue the newly discovered niece from God knew who. Damn.

Her biggest shock had been that she'd used her power. It had been forced and felt like shit but she'd used it. She wondered if she could do it again, although she knew the answer was probably not. Rumor suspected that the only reason she'd been able to use it that once was that someone had been threatening her daughter and she had had due warning.

Speaking of which, she spotted Space coming up from the basement. She waved at him half-heartedly.

"Busy night," he ventured.

She nodded, feeling awkward. They'd parted on such bad terms and now was not the time nor the place for a reconciliation-

"It never felt right, how you went."

-but apparently he thought it was.

"Luther," she said, running her hand through her hair.

"I should've at least said something for you to remember me fondly by," he said, "I just found out that it was a girl a few hours ago."

She glanced back at her sleeping daughter.

"You gave me a few fond memories," she said softly, "Don't worry about it. It's in the past."

There was a long silence. Space cleared his throat.

"Ben tells me you're divorced now."

"Oh God no," moaned Rumor, "Please don't start this. The papers just went through a week ago and I just found out you weren't a complete asshole a few hours ago. No offence."

"None taken," he said, "But if I were to wait-"

"Don't…" she started, before trailing miserably off.

A few months probably would do wonders for…well, just about everything. She shook her head. God she was acting stupid. Still, why not have something this crazy punctuate a day that was already insane?

"In a few months," she heard herself saying, "You might have a chance."

Surprisingly, it was true.


	51. Chapter 51

March 30, 1986

Claire finished zipping up the jacket that completed her uniform. There wasn't much of a need for it, especially since her identity was rapidly becoming one of the worst kept secrets in the entire universe. Still, there was something empowering about it. She'd seen that Kraken was wearing his also, possibly for the same reason, but she'd decided it was probably unwise to comment.

Stepping out of the bathroom she walked straight into the telvator room. Séance, Horror, and Kraken were crowded around a computer screen. Her aunt and mother were there also, a little further off.

"Alright," Horror said, pointing to the screen, "What we've got here is a level five security system. They've got all the cameras hooked up. I've got a virus that can jam the signal on most of them, but only for about five minutes or so. That's the window for us to get in."

"Won't it look suspicious when it happens again when we get out?" asked Claire.

All three men turned to stare at her. From behind her she could feel the eyes of Vanya and Rumor as well.

"Honey," her mother said, "You…you've never been on a mission like this before, have you?"

"Ummm, rescued a friend from some maniac?" she replied, "Nah, I've just been on the receiving end of a mission like that."

Kraken chuckled and Spaceboy flushed.

"Well, seeing how it's so heavily guarded," Horror said, "Generally, um, the way this sort of situation goes-"

"Generally they figure out we're there by the time we try to get out," finished Space, "Then it's an all out battle."

"So whamo with the amo!" Séance declared.

"Something like that anyway," said Space, looking disapprovingly at his brother.

"So why bother being secretive in the first place?" she asked irritably.

"We'll need all the time we can get since it's an unfamiliar foe," said Horror wryly, "Besides…our teams have undergone a bit of a transformation lately."

"It's gotten bigger for one," Kraken said.

"So many new relatives," cackled Séance, "We're like rabbits."

"Wow," Claire said, "**That's **a mental image I'll need therapy to get out of my head. Thanks a ton."

"You're very welcome."

"Moving on," Space said loudly and abruptly, "We're going to need to get in and out as quickly as possible. Now that we've all refueled and it's night, this is a fairly reasonable request. Think you can keep up?  
The last question was directed at Claire. She raised her eyebrows.

"I outran you this morning, didn't I?"

Séance snickered and Space turned away.

"Charge up the televator Ben," he said.

As Horror started the calculations Claire felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see her mother staring at her nervously. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Kraken go over to Vanya.

"I've uh, never been particularly good with speeches," admitted Rumor, "So, just be careful out there, you hear? Hurt yourself and you're grounded."

She smirked at her in response.

"Televator charged!" Horror called.

Waving Claire marched cheerily into a space which she realized only too quickly was definitely not big enough for all of them. She'd read about televators in magazines, and they'd never said a word about the lack of elbow space. Why didn't they ever put anything practical in those damned articles?

"Ready in three…two…" Horror announced, "…one!"

FZZACK!

.

.

.

Alone on the cold tile, Vi seethed. Everything was his fault. Not having a father to play Santa Claus, her mother working herself to the bone, the depression behind her eyes, everything. It was all his fault, all Jormungand's fault. The only thing was worse was that he'd been within arms' reach and she'd failed to kill him.

All around her were the parts of her costume. She'd spent weeks working on it, finding materials and sewing it for durability. It seemed silly in a way. It had sent a message though. As she had thought before the costume and mask were symbols that set you apart from the rest of the world. It said that you were different, you were there to make a change for the better. The costume and mask were the most powerful mission statement you could possibly make.

He'd just tossed it on the floor like it was nothing. She gritted her teeth in pure fury. He ruined her life, and then added insult to injury by doing that. Vi wished she could've killed him when she'd had the chance. It would've been wonderful. Now though, she was held in place by those damned handcuffs. They weighed her down, rendering her incapable of moving, just like before.

She paused, digesting that thought. Yes, she had been weighed down by them. At the same time she had been able to lunge for him. He said that she was strong. How strong? Maybe she quite literally didn't know her own strength. Perhaps she had just been setting limits based on what she thought she was supposed to be able to do. Certainly she had made her own weight-training programs built for **normal **girls.

Experimentally she tried to lift the cuffs. They continued to weigh her down. Vi let out a frustrated hiss of air. It should be mental problem, not a damned physical one. Then again, perhaps she was still thinking that she couldn't do it. Maybe she was once again selling herself short. Trying to relax she repeated to herself, over and over again, that she could do this, it would be easy. Thinking a visual approach might help she pictured a wall falling down. Then she lifted her hands.

Easily Vi got to her feet. She pulled her hands apart and the cuffs snapped in two. She did the same with her ankles. Picking up one of the chunks of metal she threw it at the security camera. It exploded in a shower of sparks. Smiling she picked up the stainless steel table and threw it through the two-way mirror. She saw it smash into the two men on the other side, knocking them against the wall.

The door would be no problem. Somehow she knew that, and had the feeling that any guards the bastard was going to send after her would be the same. She grinned to herself as she finished taking the remains of the metal cuffs off of her wrists and ankles. With a purposeful stride she headed towards the door.

When she got to it she topped. Turning her head she took in her costume, strewn across the floor. Perhaps what she wanted to do wasn't in the best 'hero' conscience. Nevertheless, he was a super-villain and she was still wearing a damned hospital gown. Double checking that there were no security cameras around she bent over and started gather it up.

Once she was done she started to put it on. The cloth felt good and familiar against her skin. Even the mask, which had always itched slightly, felt comfortable. Bending down she finished lacing up her boots. Then she got up, and straightened. The grin returned to her face and once more she went to the door.

"Time to kick some ass," she said.


	52. Chapter 52

March 30, 1986

"So here's the plan," Spaceboy said as they hid behind a rather large and conveniently located tree, "Ben with Diego and Klaus with me. Everyone keep your communicator channels open."

"Who's with her?" Kraken asked, jerking his head in Claire's direction.

Claire shrugged like it didn't matter. From beside her Horror started to type away on a small laptop.

"No one," replied Space, "She'll go in first and hopefully be the one to find Nix. Although it wasn't unduly deserved, Nix doesn't trust us. She might find it easier to believe what Claire says. Not to mention the fact she probably works best with her."

"Your niece's name is Vi you know," snapped Claire irritably.

"Why don't you send me with Claire and you go by yourself?" Kraken said.

Space looked him over.

"While I know that she's your daughter and you're probably rather anxious to make sure she's alright," he said, "Whoever this is is probably expecting Claire and Claire alone. Not you, not Academy. If she goes first, and alone, then they won't be expecting us."

"Fair 'nough," mumbled Claire, "But we're essentially flying blind here and I think there's a pretty good chance that she might run into one of you first. So, just tell her that Claire's with you, and she had butter fudge ripple at the water park in June."

She felt four pairs of eyes on her.

"She'll know what it means," she snapped, annoyed by the fact that everyone was staring at her ever five minutes, "You'll get her to believe you that way."

"Not only does she use soulless shampoos but also eats full-fat cholesterol ice cream," muttered Séance.

"I'll take your word on it," said Space, ignoring his brother like everyone seemed to do, "Is the virus ready?"

"Just about," Horror replied, clicking away on the keyboard a little more, "When I say go Claire, just go. Keep low to the ground because I think they're some sentries, but for the most part speed over safety. Try to enter through one of the side windows. I think that's one of the storage closets. There is only a minimal chance of you getting shot."

"Nice to know," said Claire sarcastically.

"Ready? Horror asked.

"As I'm ever gonna be."

"Virus has uploaded…" Horror said, watching a small loading bar on the screen, "Now!"

Claire hit the ground running, making sure to have cover at almost all times. She saw the lit tips of a few cigarettes from above her, confirming Horror's hypothesis about sentries. Luckily they seemed to distracted by whatever the hell it was they were doing. Finally making it to the building she weaseled her way in through one of the windows.

She fell ungracefully inside and picked herself up. Once again Horror had been right. It was just a storage closet, something Claire was very grateful about. Despite the fact that it was a very small space, at least it wasn't a room full of armed men or some shit like that. When the door handle turned though, Claire's luck ran out.

As the door open Claire grabbed the closest thing she could get her hands on. It turned out to be a bucket of paint, which she had no idea in hell was doing there. As soon as the man stepped in it connected to his skull with a very solid thunk. As he crumpled Claire wondered briefly if she'd given him a concussion. She found that she rather enjoyed the idea.

Setting the paint can down she peered around the door. The hallway it connected it to was mercifully empty. Shoving the man's body into the closet she shut the door and proceeded cautiously. There was a dimly lit flight of stairs that led down. She could only assume that the man had come up from them, since the other end of the hallway was a dead end. Deciding it was as good a way to go as any, she went down them.

.

.

.

Spaceboy waited with his brothers and growing impatience at Séance's slow movements. He wanted to get this over and done with rather quickly. To be perfectly honest he didn't quite think that he was doing it for redemption, he had operated with the facts and orders he'd had. New information had not been available to him then, so how was he supposed to have known that they were related?

On the other hand, he did have to admit that he was still hoping to impress Rumor. Yes yes, very stupid and it would probably prove him to be the show-off Kraken had always called him. Not to mention the fact that he hadn't factored in a sarcastic daughter who hated him. Still, it was worth a shot. After so many years of not having a chance in hell any sort of shot looked like it should be taken advantage of.

When Séance finally did catch up he jerked his hand for him to follow him around the front of the house, under the overhanging porch. Due to the fact that Space's large bulk made it unlikely for a covert entrance to be possible, they were just going to give Claire a few more minutes before they charged in through the front door. After that they would split up.

He drummed his fingers against his arm as the minutes ticked by. Space noticed that Kraken was doing the same thing. Of course, he did have a much bigger stake in this mission than anyone. While the words 'father' and 'Kraken' didn't seem to fit together in a sentence it made sense in an odd way. Part of him couldn't believe that he hadn't seen it sooner. A girl as rude and daredevil as Vi could only have been Kraken's daughter.

As he mused on this a high-pitched keening noise started from inside the house. Men started shouting and running around. The brothers looked at each other, knowing they'd have to go in now. Just before Space battered the door down he muttered to himself;

"What the hell did that girl do **now**?"

.

.

.

Inside the house Claire had reached the bottom of the staircase. It opened into a larger room where several men with semi-automatics drank coffee around the table. She winced. A break room. What kind of a super-villain had a break room for his employees? It boggled the mind, it really did.

Suddenly a high-pitched keening noise sounded. Red lights flashed and all the men turned and looked at her. Going for the gold she placed one hand on the light switch and stretched the other one forward. Bolts of blue electricity flowed from her fingertips, hitting each one. They fell down, dead or unconscious, she really didn't care. It certainly didn't help that they had all that metal on.

Moving on before reinforcements could arrive she muttered through gritted teeth;

"What the hell did my bastard uncles do **now**?"

.

.

.

Vi really hadn't meant to trigger the alarm. It had just happened. She'd been busy hitting one man while another must've called it in through his walkie-talkie. It had pissed her off; he had just let his co-workers be pummeled by her while he fiddled with his goddamned machine. So when she'd run up to him, her fist pulled back for a hit, she'd already decided to give him at least a broken jaw.

What actually happened was that his head had come off. She'd half-screamed in surprise and pain from the pressure exerted on her hand and the sight of a head just coming off. Shaken she looked down at her hand to find bones splintering out of her knuckles. The pain she was feeling then was five times what she'd felt when her wrist was sprained. Then, right before her eyes, the bones slide back in and the skin stitched itself back together. That combined with the now headless man sinking to the floor made her stomach churn.

She promptly vomited all over the floor. Maybe she had let too many walls down. Right now she literally didn't know her own strength. Still, knowing that she could take off a man's head if she so chose made her feel rather more confident about her chances with Jormungand. Now all she had to do was get past the rest of the guards and find him. Piece of cake.


	53. Chapter 53

March 30, 1986

Horror and Kraken moved through the hallways. When they were younger Horror had always been half-afraid to work with him. He generally took too many risks and ended up bleeding somehow by the time he got home. Kraken had also always had an odd intensity in his eyes that had made Horror uncomfortable. However, if he had thought that **that **was intense, it was nothing compared to what was reflected in his solitary eye now.

That was probably the reason why he had stood back and let him deal with the first batch of guards that they had run into. Blood had flown and seconds later Horror was trying to navigate his way through the limbs. Kraken didn't say anything to him about it, just kept moving. Horror could only pray that his other brothers and niece would be able to find Vi unharmed. He didn't want to think about what would happen if she was otherwise.

.

.

.

"In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeeeeps toniiiiiiiiight!" sang Séance as he used his powers to slam another man into the wall.

He was enjoying himself. That was a rare and exotic oddity in his life. He generally didn't enjoy himself very much, just walked around with a vague air of amusement and irritation. So saying that he was actually enjoying himself made him feel even better. It was like a wonderful little cycle.

"Hush my darling, don't fear my darling, the lion sleeeeeeeps toniiiiiight!" he continued as he made two of the guards shoot each other.

The week had started boring, then there was the shampoo betrayal issue, followed by locking up the girl he'd later learned was his niece. Then there were the revelations. Those had been pretty entertaining. The only downer was that there had been a rather disappointing lack of "Luke, I am your father"s, but he figured that they would come in some form or another.

"Oweeeeeeeeeee-eh-eh-eh-!" he yoddled.

"Will you shut the up!?" demanded Space.

"Oweeeeeeeeeee-eh-eh-eh-!" he snapped back at his brother.

He got a kick out of the way Space threw his hands up hopelessly. Classic.

.

.

.

Claire ran down the hallways, shocking the hell out of anyone she ran into. The last few hours had invigorated her, and right now her powers were working better than they had in weeks. Normally she would try to take out a few without them but there were too many people with guns. She wasn't about to risk getting shot.

She thundered down another hallway and stopped dead. Several people were already laid out on the floor. Some of them were unconscious and from the bones poking out of their skins would probably be better off remaining so. Looking further down she saw a man whose head appeared to have been knocked off. Claire fought the urge to vomit, turning her head aside. Then she realized that someone had already beaten her to it.

That cleared her mind and made her think. Who would've decapitated and hurt so men like this? While she was by no means a cop or an investigator she knew that it couldn't have been done by a professional. Certainly it looked like it had been done efficiently, but clumsily at the same time. Then, to back that up, there was the vomit like the person had been surprised and disgusted by what had happened.

At that thought Vi's name raced across her mind. No, she couldn't be strong enough to do this. Yet, hadn't she once nearly knocked all of a man's teeth out of his head with a single punch? Hadn't she just mysteriously healed all of her gunshots? She was the daughter of two people who were very definitely different. Perhaps she had had some powers that she herself hadn't even known about.

She lingered at the scene for longer than she should've. It was certainly food for thought. For one thing it told her that Vi was probably no longer in captivity. If they had come to get a girl who had already rescued herself than…well…that would just be far too ironic. Now she knew how Kraken must've felt when he'd run into her the day before.

Of course, maybe Vi wasn't trying to escape. She might've figured out that they'd be coming for her and was trying to meet up with them. That seemed unlikely though. What was more likely, and slightly more terrifying, was the prospect that Vi was trying to take on her captors singlehanded. She couldn't be that stupid, right? She would know better than to try something like that.

Even as she thought that, she knew that yes, it was possible for Vi to do something like that. She had always had a rather overdeveloped sense of justice. If she saw someone doing something wrong then she would charge in, heedless of the consequences. Claire really couldn't complain though. It was how they had met after all.

Still, perhaps whoever had captured her had done something wrong. Well worse than kidnapping her. Vi might've gone off to find them and give them a piece of her mind. It was entirely possible. Scared now she looked around for any clue as to what her friend had done after running into the men.

She found it in the boot imprint on a man's chest. Unlike the others it wasn't the half-print of a roundhouse kick. It was like she'd stepped on him on her way out. Vi had a habit of doing that with people she didn't particularly like. However, this one seemed to indicate that she was headed towards the staircase, further in. Frantically saying every curse she'd ever heard Claire redirected herself.

.

.

.

Vi felt like she was on fire. She'd never run this fast, hit this hard, felt so little fatigue, or believed herself to be this aware. It was like every single noise was suddenly amplified by a sixth sense. It was all almost too much to bear. Fervently she hoped that she'd be able to throw those walls up again once she got out of that place. Once she'd killed Jormungand.

At the end of the hallway she was in it opened up into a huge room. It looked like a storage area, filled with crates and boxes. Upon investigating one she saw the logo of a serpent wrapped around the globe. The tattoo of the man who had shot her earlier came into mind. Angrily she punched into the crate.

Like she expected the wood shattered under her fist. To her surprise though, white powder mushroomed out of the impact. Almost immediately she knew what it was, had smelt it before when they'd done drug busts. Trying very hard not to breathe in she took a few steps away from it, gritting her teeth.

"Tsk tsk. First the guards then the merchandise? You're learning very quick."

She turned around and glared at the baby-faced man in the suit.

"You're a mad scientist **and **a cocaine dealer?" she snapped.

"I sell other things," Jormungand shrugged, tossing a large hunting knife up in the air and catching it compulsively, "People, weapons, sometimes I do a few robberies. Dayton's the perfect place to do these sorts of things."

"It's not a crime factory," snapped Vi, "People live here."

"Yeah, people who are only too willing to sell themselves and their beliefs," snorted Jormungand, "I grew up here too you know. I learned that it's a shithole, and it's always gonna be a shithole and no one's ever going to do anything about it. Might as well make something for myself."

She shook her head.

"People like you are the reason the world is the way it is," she said, "In fact, you're the reason **my **world is the way it is. And believe me; I plan on doing something about it."

"Oh?" asked Jormungand, amused, "Which would be?"

Vi grinned slowly.

"Ripping out your heart and shoving it so far down your throat you choke on it," she replied.


	54. Chapter 54

March 30, 1986

Kraken felt his adversary's jaw break under his fist. Horror trailed behind him, looking nervous. He wondered why Space had had to pair him up with the most pacifistic member in the Academy. It just didn't make a whole lot of sense to him. Then again, Space had never made a whole lot of sense either.

Finishing up the one he was working on they kept moving. He had promised Vanya that he'd bring back their daughter, and he'd be damned if he failed the only thing she'd asked of him in years. This was his girl that the bastard was messing with and whoever they were were going to wish they'd never been born once he found them.

The Kraken had once done several solo missions. That was essentially the way that he had managed to gain his reputation for a scourge of the criminal underworld. Not super-villains, but criminals with submachine guns and a nasty habit of not monolouging. For several weeks his name had spelt terror for the City's underworld. Even years afterwards he had commanded fear for the atrocities he had committed dispensing his own form of justice.

That had been years ago. Once he had become a cop things had changed. He'd still been vicious, but he'd had rules to play by and had always at least kept them in mind. Kraken had made the switch from vigilante to cop without a moment's hesitation. Now though, now he was going back. Now he was going to remind this son of a bitch who it was he'd fucked with.

.

.

.

Claire heard the ringing of the communicator just as she started down the stairs. Irritably she picked it up.

"What?" she snapped.

"You tripped the alarm," Space accused on the other end.

Even when she was trying to save her friend he could still manage to make her fall in hate with him all over again.

"No I didn't!" she yelled.

"Quiet the fuck down," Kraken's voice came from the other end of the com, "These things get you in contact with everyone and right now that was too fucking loud."

"Well I didn't trip the stupid alarm," she insisted, continuing down the stairs cautiously.

"We didn't either," said Space coldly.

"Nah ah. Yah ha!" chortled Séance.

"Why can't these damn things just have one channel?" Kraken muttered.

"Look, I think Vi might've done it," she said, "I found some guards back there and…well…they were very definitely taken care of. A couple of them looked like they'd been roundhouse kicked so…anyway, like I said, I think she might've done it."

For a moment there was blessed radio silence.

"How would she have gotten out?" Horror asked, "I mean, this place is secure to the teeth. Solid metal doors, that kind of thing."

"She's strong," mused Séance, "She did throw a motorcycle at me earlier."

"She did what?!" Claire exclaimed, thinking about the decapitated man.

"Right at my be-ut-iful face."

"Is it possible she was keeping something from you?" asked Space thoughtfully.

The underlying suggestions of the phrase infuriated Claire.

"It might mean she didn't notice before," she snarled, "I'm gonna go find her, all right?"

She clicked a small side button and snapped the communicator closed before shoving it into back into it's holster. What she didn't know was that the side button just turned off the **incoming** sound. It was still on.

.

.

.

When Vi had lunged for Jormungand she'd expected his soft-looking skin to split under her fists. To her surprise he easily sidestepped her and nearly stabbed her with the knife. Since she'd been watching it, expecting him to try something with it, she was able to dodge it. The next thoughts came in a blur as a large crate smashed into her. It knocked her to the ground and she slid, feeling a slight cut in her lip. Scrambling to her feet she saw that four other boxes were floating in the air around Jormungand.

"I told you I assimilate," he said, still tossing the knife in the air, "Found a telekinetic person three or four years back. Found out what made him tick, cut him open, took it."

An odd fanatical gleam entered his eyes. He gestured at her with the knife.

"Same way you'll go once you're captured."

"Fuck you," she snarled.

The next box that headed her way she leapt over it, going as high as she could go. The second one she dropped to the floor. When the third one came for her she intercepted it and tossed it into the fourth, destroying it. Looking up she saw that he was still smiling. It filled her with foreboding.

"You think you're so hot eh?" he asked, "Advanced physical prowess? Well have fun with this."

He stretched out his hand and flames blossomed out of it. She ducked, narrowly avoiding it. Seeing him stretch out his second hand she ducked for cover behind a column.

"Yeah," he laughed, "Don't like fire, do 'ya? Certainly didn't like Kent's contraption.

Vi ignored his goading and took a deep breath. She needed to think this through. Already she was losing ground rapidly. How many other fucking tricks did he have up his sleeves? Peering around the column her eyes widened in surprise when she saw only empty space where he'd been standing.

"Where are you?" she muttered to herself.

"Here."

Whipping around she saw him raise his hands. She leaped away, but not quick enough. One of the streams of fire hit her unprotected shoulder and the smell of burning flesh filled the air. Vi screamed in pain even as her skin repaired itself.

"Teleportation," he said happily, "It's a nice one, I have to admit. Highly useful as well. Feel like giving up now, or shall we play some more?

Vi glared at him and tried to get up. In response he teleported over to her. Casually he stepped on her hand and pressed down. The fingers broke and she muffled a scream.

"Play time then?" he asked, crouching down next to her with his foot next to her hand.

He pulled her head up by her hair and waved the knife horribly close to her face.

"The longer we carry this on the more it's going to hurt."

Brushing away both the pain and taunts she grabbed his wrist with her free hand and squeezed as hard as she could. The bones snapped and he pulled away, screaming profanities. Once eye level with him she head-butted him backwards. Jormungand slid back several feet and Vi finally found the time to get up.

"Difference between you and me is that I can take pain," she snapped, "And I heal."

"No no no. that's not so much of a distance," he said, straightening out his wrist, "You see, for me it takes a little longer than you but I did run into a woman with healing abilities when I was eighteen or so. Very difficult to kill. However, she did die when we split her down the middle."

Vi cursed, her biggest advantage gone. Knowing his bones would repair all too soon she picked up a crate and tossed it at him. He stopped it in mid-air, but he didn't see her run up and kick him in the face. Teeth broke and for a minute Vi thought she could end it right there. Then he stretched out his hand and she dropped to the floor as the flames raged over her.

Crawling quickly away on her belly Vi made it to another column. The fires died down.

"Where are you?" he laughed.

Gritting her teeth Vi went through her options. Regrettably they were few and not very good. He had something to counter nearly all of her advantages. Yes, she was fast but the fire was a rather large barrier to any surprise attacks. He was also standing in front of the door out, blocking any chance of escape. It looked like she would have to continue fighting what appeared to be a losing battle.


	55. Chapter 55

March 30, 1986

Once the communicator was tucked away Claire had flung herself down the stairs. She landed clumsily at the bottom of the flight before running. The rest of the halls were a blur to her, they just occurred one after another. She hadn't really even been sure where she was going; she just knew to stay in that direction. Everything would become apparent soon enough; she just needed **to keep going**.

When she heard the scream her mind came back to her. It was very definitely a female voice, possibly Vi. Of course, she had never heard her friend scream before so she wasn't one hundred percent sure. Still, it was the only thing she had to go on so she followed the echo of the shrill sound until she came onto a platform over-looking a large storage area.

She arrived just in time to see some odd looking man in a suit emit flames from his hand at her friend. Vi dropped to the ground and scuttled away. In all the fire and smoke she couldn't make out just where she'd run to. There were far too many places in that room to hide after all. Apparently the man couldn't figure it out either judging by his irritated expression. He lowered his hand but stood tensed.

"Where are you?" he laughed, although it didn't reach his eyes.

Almost casually he tossed a large knife up in the air, catching it and throwing it in turns. Very slowly Claire closed her eyes. She wasn't going to mess this up, not when her friend needed her. She didn't know who the hell the bastard with the knife and the fire was, but she did know one thing. He was about to get **fried**.

Stretching her hands out she exhaled slowly. Then she let the highest voltage she could go up to pump itself out of her hands. From the man's screams she knew it hit him, but she just let it flow. The smell of burnt flesh wafted to her nose but she ignored it and kept the power up. Only when he stopped screaming did she pull back.

As soon as she opened her eyes she saw his sizzled form on the floor. Both disgusted and satisfied she raced down the stairs into the area.

"Vi?" she called out, "I got him. Where are we? Some sort of storage area or-?"

"Get down!" Vi shouted.

Not able to see her friend she looked from side to side.

"Behind you!"

Whipping around she saw the blackened form get up. Watching in horror the skin and cloth stitched itself back together into a baby-faced man.

"Wonderful," he said, "Simply wonderful. Two for the price of one."

.

.

.

Across the complex the members of the Umbrella Academy stopped and listened to everything that had happened. Kraken finished with the person he who he'd just stabbed and grabbed his communicator out. He adjusted the dials on it, opening two channels.

"Space?" he asked, "Are you hearing what I'm hearing?"

"Only the little pixies," replied Séance.

"Affirmative," he replied, "Ben, where's the storage area?"

There were some frantic clickings on the lap top. They were only doubled when Jormungand voiced his threat.

"I've got it," he said, "Follow my instructions."

.

.

.

In shock she watched as he raised his hand. That voltage had once out electrified an electric fence, how the fuck could he still be alive? Nonetheless alive he was. Flames curled around his hand and Claire quickly tried to summon up some more electricity for some sort of defense. However, she was interrupted by a large loading tractor. Or, more specifically, a large airborne loading tractor that smashed into him and left a dent in the far wall.

Before she could even process what happened she felt someone grab her arm and pull her behind some crates. She had just enough time to notice it was Vi before her friend said;

"He heals. Big time."

"Did you throw the tractor?" she asked weakly.

Vi blinked at her.

"Uh, yeah," she said, "My powers are kind of…accelerating."

"How long have you-?" she started.

"All of two hours," Vi said, peering quickly in front of the crates, "I think the accident was some sort of catalyst. How'd you get here?"

"The Academy's helping," she said.

Vi raised her eyebrows.

"A team-up?" she asked.

"I guess so," Claire shrugged.

"Go figure," Vi said, "Guess the comics are right about some things. But really, that's not important now. He's going to be up in a few minutes."

Claire nodded. She couldn't be focusing on this stuff right now. Plenty of time to tell Vi about her father later. She leaned back and closed her eyes, letting the instincts pounded into her from months of training with Kraken take over. When she opened them up again, she was ready to go.

"What are we dealing with here?" she asked.

"Teleportation, telekinesis, regeneration, and pyrokinesis," Vi said, "And that's just the stuff I know about. He could have some other shit hidden up his sleeves."

"That's great," Claire muttered, "Any plans?"

"Nope," replied Vi.

"Excellent."

"Well, I do have an idea how to kill him," Vi said, "But it's pretty gross."

Claire eyed Vi warily.

"How gross?"

"Damn gross."

"It can't be that bad."

"I think we have to cut him in half," Vi said.

"Horizontal?" asked Claire hopefully.

"Vertical."

"That's damn gross!" Claire exclaimed.

"Told 'ya."

Vi peered around the boxes again.

"We've got to figure out **something**. He's nearly out," she said.

Thinking hard Claire looked around the storage room for something, anything that they could use. Her eyes lighted on the large, criss-crossing metal beams that went across the ceiling. Quietly she assessed her power level, took into account the distance, and made a few other calculations.

"I've got a plan," she said, "It's a little rough, and it'll probably need some improvisation. Everything's probably going to go to hell with it though."

Vi turned back to her, amused.

"But that's when we work best."


	56. Chapter 56

March 30, 1986

Horror was always running behind someone. He never led a charge into a highly dangerous building. His brothers and sisters had been, for some reason, under the impression that this was because he wasn't brave or he didn't possess the necessary leadership skills. It was, in fact, option C; none of the above.

If they had been paying attention then they would've realized that he was brave and could be a leader when push came to shove. Whenever the first few went down, meaning Kraken and Spaceboy, he was generally the one to assume command. That was when they had actually been a team, so that was saying something. His bravery was proved by the fact that he was still with the Academy after all these years.

In fact, it was because he wasn't stupid and leading the charge seemed very stupid to him. Whoever was leading said charge was generally target number one. They were also blinded because they couldn't see the big picture or the layout. From his position in back he could do that, as well as stop suddenly if need be.

This point was illustrated when Kraken collided head on with Spaceboy as they entered a new hall. Horror was far away enough so that he could stop in time. Strangely enough, so was Séance. The two of them shared a look, not of a private joke, but more of a mutual understanding.

"Get the fuck off me!" Kraken snapped angrily.

"You're the one who ran into me!" Space insisted.

There were a few more muffled curses as the two struggled to get back to their feet. With Kraken's obstinence and Space's sheer bulk, it took quite some time. Once more Séance and Horror shared a look. This would have never have happened if they hadn't been leading the charge.

Just then a sound something like a mixture between a scream and a sizzle came to their ears. Each Hargreeves looked at each other before leaping to their feet and continuing on.

.

.

.

Claire gasped as she moved behind more crates. That had not gone well, not at all. She looked down at her badly burnt hand and wrangled up some fake tears. It wasn't hard. She was still well-trained from the days when all it took was the complaint of a sore stomach and tears to keep you away from school.

"Awww?" Jormungand cooed, finding her easily due to her tears, "Got your wing clipped didn't you? You talk a little too tough for such a wuss."

He took a step closer and she grabbed his foot with her good hand. She had found that it was much easier to transmit electricity through contact. He screamed as she put as much voltage as she could muster up at that moment. Claire held on for about thirty seconds before releasing and scrambling up to her feet.

Jormungand was, well, there was no other word for it, sizzling. She felt rather nauseated at this unforeseen side affect, the smell was ghastly, but took it in stride. With his blackened flesh healing up and his eyes coming back, apparently they melted rather easily; he managed to growl out;

"You are going to pay for that!"

Vi kicked off from her position on the ceiling and landed a hard kick in the middle of his back. As he was knocked back Claire said casually;

"You know, I don't think I am."

"You-" he started, flames curling around his hands.

"Tag team!" Vi yelled.

She and Claire quickly split up heading separate directions around him. They'd known they would have to circle up and surround him. It was a maneuver they had practiced many times. Behind the crates Claire had acknowledged that he seemed like a good fighter, but there were two of them and really only one of him.

Jormungand had overlooked one very important fact about them. Yes, they were crime fighters. Woe to the miscreant that met them separately. However, what he had overlooked was that the ones that met them together were truly fucked. They worked together, and they had always excelled at what they did.

When he aimed flames at both of them they simultaneously dropped to the ground. They both got up soon after, Vi grabbing a crate to throw at him. It hit him and from the dazed look in his eyes also managed to disorient him. Trying hard not to breathe in the clouds of white powder Claire took him head on.

With her being as clumsy as she was, it wasn't easy. He seemed pretty good at hand to hand as well. Apparently he had also remembered which had been burned. When she dropped to the ground he stepped on it. Tears welling in her eyes she aimed a well placed kick towards his crouch. Apparently, judging from the tears in **his **eyes, it was a lot more painful than what he had done to her.

Still, he seemed to have enough control of his faculties. When he raised his hand Claire had been expecting fire. Instead an unknown force had knocked her backwards, sending her crashing into the wall. More pressure was applied and Claire was starting to find it very difficult to breathe. Seeing this Vi picked up another crate and tossed it at him.

Suddenly the pressure decreased and Claire dropped to the floor. When she looked up again he was raising his hands. She rolled out of the way as fire was aimed at both her and Vi. Claire covered her head with her hands and waited for the barrage to end. Finally hearing the flames stop crackling she got up and started booking it for him.

Vi, being closer to him then she was, had gotten up immediately when the flames stopped. She aimed a kick at him, which he dodged. For a minute or two they went head to head, almost moving in a blur. Any fire he aimed at her she dodged quickly, almost as if she was gaining speed as she went along. Claire was at point-blank range when he first showed signs of teleporting.

"Oh no you don't!" Claire howled, hitting him with more electricity.

He screamed again. Vi, ignoring every single safety tip they had ever established, launched herself at him while Claire was still pumping voltage. Perhaps it had been the fact that she knew she would heal. Or perhaps it had been something else. There had certainly been a good deal of fire in her eyes. Either way, from her facial expression she was in a good deal of pain.

"Vi!" Claire screamed, stopping immediately.

Without even acknowledging her friend Vi shoved Jormungand down onto the ground. Both of them were charred in some places, although Vi was healing a lot faster than him. He groaned from the pain of her attack and Claire reflected that she must've really been in control to not have been blinded by the pain. Vi leaned down and hissed in his ear;

"You think you could fuck with us you miserable bastard? Think again."

With great deliberation Vi broke both of his arms and twisted them behind him like a fleshy pretzel. She was tying him in a knot. Yeah, it was gross, but it had been the plan. Vi figured that he might heal wrong and thus not be able to get up again. It had been a solid plan. Getting to the plan had been somewhat difficult, but the pleasure her friend took from it scared her. He screamed as Vi finished her work with his arms and moved to his legs.

Briefly Claire closed her eyes as the snap of his legs echoed in the air. Getting up Vi walked to his head.

"Nighty-night," she said sweetly, before stomping on his head as hard as she could.

The crunch of his skull was sickening.

"Guh…" Claire said.

"He'll heal," Vi said darkly, "For now he'll just be unconscious. He can't teleport like that."

She turned and walked away, her stride determined. At first Claire didn't know what she was doing. Surely they should be waiting for the Academy. Maybe she should even be explaining about her father. When Vi bent down to pick up the knife, she got a sinking feeling in her stomach. It was only confirmed by the demonic look in Vi's eyes as she strode towards Jormungand again.

"Vi," said Claire carefully, "What are you doing?"

"Ending this," replied Vi curtly.

Claire stepped in front of her.

"No, no you're not."

"Get you of my way," Vi snapped.

Trying to remain calm Claire said;

"This isn't what we do Vi. We don't kill people. We don't-"

"He deserves it!" Vi howled.

Scared by her friend's intensity Claire took a step back.

"It's his fault!" she continued, "Everything! He told me…that bastard told me…my mom's Vanya Hargreeves! He kidnapped her when she was pregnant with me, nearly fucking killed her, made it look like he did, made it look like the Kraken, my **father**, died, he did it all!"

She was screaming furiously by the end of it. Claire glanced back at the unconscious man. God, had he thought it was smart to tell her that? What a moron.

"He took away so much!" she continued, seeming strained for breath, "All because he wanted my fucking powers. He took it! My father, an easy life, just fucking took it from me and my mother! Then he comes back and fucks everything up again. I'm ending it Claire. **I'M FUCKING ENDING IT**!"

Neither of them said anything for awhile. Claire swallowed hard.

"You're right," she said, "He does deserve it."

"Good," said Vi, "Then we're both in agreement."

Claire held up a restraining hand.

"Let me finish," she said, "He deserves it, but you don't."

Puzzled Vi furrowed her brow.

"I…don't quite follow-"

"Kill him now and it's murder," Claire said.

"He's murdered people," Vi accused, "We've both killed before-"

"We've **killed**," stressed Claire, "Not murdered."

"Same difference."

"No, it's not," Claire replied, "We've killed in self-defense. This is murder and you don't deserve to have that weighing on your conscience. You're better than that."

She saw the tears start forming in her friend's eyes.

"But…but…I just can't…"

"We'll put him in the Hotel," Claire said firmly, "That's what we'll do. We can have the Academy do it."

"But…" Vi said miserably, "We're not the Academy."

At first Claire had no idea what she meant. Then it hit her. Putting him in the Hotel was an Academy ending. Putting him in jail was a police ending. They weren't either and hence didn't know how to deal with this. She fumbled for an answer as the knife slid from Vi's hand and Vi gently collapsed to the floor. Claire walked over slowly as her friend started crying from the stress, the anger, and perhaps a miniature breakdown.

"Nah," she said, "We're not."

"Then who the fuck are we?" Vi sobbed.

This, this Claire knew the answer to.

"We're the Dayton Girls," she said.

There was an odd pause where Vi stopped crying.

"We're the Dayton Girls," repeated Vi.

For a moment Claire became scared, worried that she had said the wrong thing. Then Vi lifted her face upwards. Although it was tear-stained it still bore the cocky smile that Claire had always associated with Vi.

"And do you know what?" said Vi, getting to her feet, "I know exactly how the Dayton Girls would handle this."

.

.

.

The Academy and Kraken had rushed forward, hearing every word spoken. Kraken had quickly run through his entire vocabulary of swear words, even making a few up. Although it sounded like the battle was over, they pushed on. At long last the two groups made it to the storage room.

When he first looked Kraken stopped short. None of them had said a word. In the middle of the area a garbage can had been wheeled in, and Jormungand unceremoniously dumped inside it. Sitting on the edge of several crates were his daughter and niece. Vi was bandaging up Claire's hand with something. Claire looked up, saw them, and nudged Vi.

She looked up and her eyes widened. Almost hesitantly he went down the stairs. He was scared, scared shitless. The two of them met half way and did nothing more than stare at each other. Vi bit her lip and looked at the ground.

"I uh…maybe we could put him in the Hotel?" she said, jerking her head towards Jormungand.

He nodded mutely. As much as he wanted to kill the bastard, Vi's life had been more fucked-up by the man's manipulations than he had. Grudgingly he had acknowledged that it was her choice to make. Another uncomfortable silence fell. Kraken felt like it was his duty to say something, **anything**. She beat him to the chase.

"It's okay," she said, "Really, it's okay."

Kraken continued staring.

"Who the hell are you?"

Vi looked at him, confused and perhaps a little hurt.

"Huh?" she asked.

"Because you're too damned good to be my daughter," he said, "You did a fucking better job than I would've."

She blinked at him. Then she hugged him, flooring him.

"Really?" she said, "'Cause I think I'm just right."


	57. Chapter 57

June 10, 1986

"So," Vi said, chomping into her butter fudge ripple ice cream cone, "How're things at your place?"

Claire shrugged. They were sitting on the top of one of the waterslides, at a couple minutes before midnight, eating ice cream from the all-night ice cream shop. Claire had often reflected on the oddity of having an all-night ice cream shop. It was very practical when you thought about it though. People did get cravings.

She leaned back up against the slide. Several months had passed, school was out, lives had changed, and now it was almost her sixteenth birthday. They had had a running tradition to do this ever since they were little, something their parents still knew nothing about. They just waited up there and counted down the minutes until the other became a year older.

Surreptitiously Claire looked at her watch. She only had a few more minutes when her cousin could tease her about being older than her. It was best to distract her.

"Not bad I guess," she said, "Things are getting better with Mom. Dad's still, well, Dad. His still bottle-blonde irritates the shit out of me and he's a man-whore. Oh yeah, and Space keeps coming over."

"Still hate him?" Vi laughed.

"Don't you?" snorted Claire, taking a lick of her chocolate cone.

"Well," said Vi reflectively, "He's not quite so much of a deuschbag anymore."

"Still a deuschbag though."

"Careful," said Vi reproachfully, "At this rate he may be your step-dad."

"God, don't remind me," Claire moaned.

Vi laughed loudly.

"Yeah, yeah, very funny," muttered Claire, "Try listening to **that** going on downstairs."

Grimacing Vi said;

"Okay, **now **I feel bad for you."

"I've bought some earplugs," Claire said, "Apparently they don't work. Thinking about running to the water park anytime he comes over."

"I'd say come over to my place but, well," Vi shrugged, "Roughly sixteen years apart, you know? My parents missed each other. **A lot**."

"Guh."

"Exactly. My walls are thicker than yours though," said Vi, "Buuuuuut sometimes I do come out here with a sleeping bag. Hope they'll cool it before winter so I don't freeze."

Claire nodded, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"I'd say something," she said, "But how the hell do you start? Mom, could you and your boyfriend keep it down when you're having fun? Please?"

"Not like that comes up in normal conversation or anything," agreed Vi.

Finishing up her cone Vi started to lick her fingers.

"So," Claire asked, "How's the wedding coming?"

"Came and went," Vi said.

"What?"

"They figured, why not just elope?" said Vi authoratively, "So we went to the courthouse one weekend. That's when I had the place to myself, remember? Their idea of a honeymoon was to go out for a few days."

"Yeah," Claire sputtered, "But I just thought that-"

"You thought wrong," said Vi, "Anyway, can you imagine a formal wedding?"

She got up and stood very straight.

"Hello, I'm the officiant," she said, "I assume that you are the couple. And who's this young lady? Your niece? Sister?"  
She allowed herself to relax in what Claire thought was supposed to be an impression of Vanya.

"No, she's our daughter."

Vi switched back to the officiant and fell backwards. Claire giggled as Vi got back into a sitting position.

"Guy would die of a heart attack," she said, "Seriously. So they just eloped. So I guess my last name's Torrenton now. Mom never really did like Hart and neither of them want anything to do with Hargreeves anymore. So…yeah."

"Well fuck me," Claire said.

"No thanks."

"Shut up."

Vi waved her away.

"Anyway," she said, "Dad's bringing in a new bike. God, it feels so weird to call him that. It's a junker but he figures we can fix it up. Little father-daughter bonding thing. He also says he'll be there when I go for my license. When the guy tries to fail me, he says he'll give him the eye."

Claire laughed, imagining the murderous look Kraken saved for people he didn't like directed at a clerk. She sobered up as she thought about Vi's comment on his new title.

"How're things going with that?" she asked.

Vi frowned.

"Ah, still kinda weird. He's not exactly father material, 'ya know? But I never wanted father material."

"Yeah," said Claire, "My Dad's father material and he's a bastard."

"Exactly," Vi said, "And I get along with him. It's just still a little awkward. We'll work on things."

Looking at her watch Claire saw that she had five more minutes left until aging.

"You know," she said, "Space told Hargreeves about us."

Vi looked up sharply.

"What'd 'gramps' say?"

"Said he'd be interested in meeting us," Claire said, finishing her cone.

"What'd you say?"

"I said why not?" shrugged Claire, "We'll get together, have a few laughs…"

Vi stared at her, unbelieving.

"I told him no fucking way," Claire said, rolling her eyes, "God, you think I want to meet him? You nuts or something?"

"I'm still hanging out with you, aren't I?"

"Very funny," muttered Claire, "I figured the feeling on that subject with us was mutual."

"Damned straight it is, oh fearless leader," said Vi, mock saluting, "Anyway, I know tonight's your birthday, but how do you feel about-?"

"Say no more," Claire said, taking off her hoodie to reveal her costume, "I thought you'd never ask. I'd like to fight crime as a sixteen-year-old. New age; new era."

Vi grinned at her, taking off her own jacket to show the uniform underneath. She put on her mask at the same time that Claire put on hers. Vi looked at her watch.

"You're sixteen in ten…nine…eight…" started Vi.

They both chorused together as the countdown continued.

"…seven…six…five…four…three…two…one…"

"Happy fucking sixteenth!" shouted Vi.

She slapped her friend on the back, not too hard, mindful of her new strength. Off in the distance the two of them heard a siren wail. They grinned at each other.

"Come on," Claire said, "Let's go kick some ass."


End file.
